Corpse Party: A Different Tale
by Trainalf
Summary: Whisked away from Kisaragi Academy, ten people find themselves trapped in a different and frightening world filled with ghosts, traps, and insane survivors. Separated, they must find a way to reunite, survive, and escape. But will they all make it out? AU of the first game, with some canon welding to other adaptions. Various implied pairings.
1. Chapter 1

XX A/N XX

I can't stay away from this category, it seems. Here's my newest work, a longfic this time and different genre from what I usually post. Hope you all enjoy this new story, and forgive the poor and disjointed opening; it's kind of hard to make a good introduction when everyone already knows the characters and events, not to mention how many people there is to keep track of. A/N at the bottom regarding the third section.

X

Satoshi Mochida wasn't a morning person. Who was? So when his alarm clock clicked over to 6 AM and started its annoying wailing, the high school student groaned but didn't move. It was his intention to get a few more moments of warmth and comfort.

Unfortunately for him, his alarm clock had succeeded in waking another member of the household who _was_ a morning person.

"Big Brother!" A younger looking girl barreled in from the adjacent room, still in pajamas, and with a flying leap landed upon him like a cannonball.

"Ack!" Satoshi jerked up at the blow. "Yuka!" He groaned at the receding aching where her knees had dug into his stomach. His childish little sister just laughed at his misfortune and climbed off before snatching the covers away from him.

"Time to get up, Big Brother!" She told him before getting a running start for the bathroom.

"Yuka..." He sighed but smiled and pushed himself up. He couldn't be mad at someone so happy. Standing up to stretch, he glanced at the calendar on his desk: October 26th. "26th..." He yawned, trying to smooth his out his hair. There was something about today he should be remembering... "Hmm." Next to his clock, the display on his cell phone lit up to inform him he'd received a message in spite of the hour.

"Who?" He picked it up and flipped it open. Beneath the text icon was the name 'Shinozaki'. The name of his friend and class representative reminded him what was significant about this day: it was the day before his school's culture festive. Tomorrow, the classes of Kisaragi Academy would turn their classrooms into attractions to outdo each other. Ayumi Shinozaki had been determined that Class 2-9 would outdo every class in the Academy, Junior and Highschool. And Satoshi had allowed himself to be volunteered to help set things up today along with his other seven friends. "Right..." He yawned again.

The message was short and simple: 'Good morning, Mochida. Could you please make sure Kishinuma comes to school today? Thank you.'

"Yoshiki?" Satoshi wondered at the mention of his blond friend. He did have a habit of skipping school every now and then, and a bit of a bad reputation, but he could be trusted with what his friends asked of him. Shinozaki must not have thought so if she'd sent the request though.

"What's that?" Yuka returned stuck her head in to see.

"My Class Rep." Satoshi explained as he closed the phone. "She wants me to make sure Yoshiki comes to school today because we're supposed to stay after and prepare for the culture festival." Yuka had never met Yoshiki, but she knew he was one of Satoshi's two best friends.

"What?" Yuka asked, sounding hurt. Normally, Satoshi would walk her to school. He always had, with a few exceptions. Although Yuka had whined on every one of those occasions. Having turned 14 just last month, she should've been beyond such things. But neither Satoshi or their parents could bring themselves to stop her.

"I'll make it up to you later." He promised, tussling her hair. She crossed her arms and pouted before going to her room. With a resigned but amused sigh, Satoshi got ready for his day, knowing his morning walk would be longer. He skipped a shower for a short wash up and changed into his school uniform: Gray pants and a white button up shirt. A gray Gakuran jacket hung in his closet beside the rest of his uniform, but it was an optional part of the dress code he often chose to ignore. He grabbed up his school bag and headed downstairs.

"I'm leaving early." He called to his parents as he passed by the kitchen where his family was eating breakfast. It wasn't the first time he'd done such, so his parents didn't give more than a brief nod to show they heard. "I'll be staying afterschool too." That was a first, though.

"Ok." His mother gave a verbal answer this time. "Don't come home too late."

"I won't." Satoshi promised as he headed for the front door.

"Big Brother." He stopped as Yuka came out of the kitchen, wearing the long blue smock that was the Junior High uniform for girls. "Here." She held out a piece of toast for him.

"Thanks." He smiled and took it from her. "I'll make it up to you later." He repeated, seeing she still seemed upset he wouldn't be able to walk her to school today.

"Okay!" She brightened up at the idea. "Have a good day, Big Brother!"

"I will." He nodded and left the house, heading for the older, more decrypt part of town where Yoshiki lived. As he did so, yawning and taking a bite of toast, he wondered if his class rep was trying to rush everyone else in their group of friends to school to help for such an important event.

X

The answer was no, but all of them were going through their own mornings. Satoshi's other best friend lived not too far across town, a girl. While Satoshi was already out of the door, she hadn't even bothered changing out of her yellow pajamas yet. Instead, she was busy cleaning and sprucing up her room and checking the progress she'd made doing the exact same thing just last night.

Until her mother intervened, anyway.

"Naomi Nakashima!" Cup of coffee in hand, the brunette woman stared at her almost identical daughter and then at the clock in her room. "It's almost 6:30. You'll be late for school! What are you doing?"

"Cleaning." For so early in the morning, she seemed unusually excited, enough to where she didn't notice the sternness in her mother's voice. "I don't want my room to be a mess when Seiko arrives." At the mention of the girl, Ms. Nakashima's gaze softened a bit. She wasn't surprised it was something related to her daughter's best friend; she'd been so excited about the sleepover they were having tonight for a while now.

But school was more important than a sleepover, no matter what the girls might think.

"Your room is clean enough." She told her. "Now get ready for school." She pointed to her daughter's school uniform- a tan sailor uniform and blue skirt - hung neatly by her dresser. "If you're late, you can forget about the sleepover." That was a bluff- Naomi's mother was actually quite looking forward to meeting this Seiko girl her daughter was friends with- she talked about her all the time, almost as much as that boy Satoshi she was also friends with. But it had the required affect, and her daughter promised to be dressed and downstairs soon.

True to her word, Naomi was downstairs two minutes, and her mother returned to her amiable self. "So you're really excited about this sleepover." She commented.

"Yeah." Naomi smiled. "A sleepover is one of the only things we haven't gone before." Naomi and her peppy friend of several years had done probably hundreds of things like having two hour phone conversations or going shopping. They were nearly inseparable in public, and to an outside observer they might've appeared as more then friends, but really Seiko was just a very enthusiastic person and Naomi tolerated it. But in the few years they'd best friends, a sleepover had never been done. That was supposed to change tonight.

She could hardly contain her excitement, and she was sure Seiko, probably the liveliest person in Japan, wasn't even bothering to hide her excitement. In fact, Naomi wondered just what the atmosphere at the Shinohara household was at that moment.

X

The answer was quite active. Of the houses six occupants: one male adult, two female teens, and three younger children, all were rising and preparing for the day at just the same time. This normal routine was turned eccentric when Seiko, one of the teenage girls, entered the children's rooms and proceeded to rush them out of bed with well placed tickle attacks, filling the house with shrill laughter even this early in the morning.

The other teen, smiling and watching the festivities, moved to the kitchen and started preparing food, joined soon after by Seiko. The whole family poured into the kitchen for the merry affair that was breakfast a few minutes later.

"Good morning, Miyu!" The smallest of the children, a little girl, chirped to the girl that had become like a second big sister to them.

"Good morning, Aya." She replied just as cheerfully.

"Breakfast will be ready soon!" Seiko declared as it was a event on par with winning the lottery. And no less then two minutes later, the table was filled.

The younger children were up, dressed, and eating. But the two girls that had made that possible had yet to get dressed themselves. So with the rest of the houses occupants eating, they rushed to take care of that. As students of Kisaragi High, their uniform was the regular sailor's shirt and skirt. That left only their hair to be done and they'd be ready for the day.

There was a brief silence as Seiko and Miyu quickly styled their hair into their preferred styles: curls and pigtails respectively. These different styles were the only reason they could be told apart at a distance, since both of their hair had a coppery color to it.

The similarity wasn't all that surprising, seeing as the two girls were cousins. Together they were the force that helped run the house, and had been for close to two years now. Originally, it had just been Seiko and her younger siblings in the home with their parents, with Seiko filling the role of second care taker. That had come to a end with the disappearance of their mother, and for a time Seiko had assumed her role all by herself, managing okay for the first few weeks.

Then the first year of high school had been about to start, and with it the worry Seiko would be swamped in responsibility. That was about the time Miyu had come to visit, intending to stay a few weeks and help out. In the end, she'd decided to stay longer because of how much she enjoyed caring for the three younger members of the household, and Seiko had some of the nicest people Miyu had ever met as friends. Her own relationship with her parents had been frosty at best, so they hadn't really cared. In truth, Miyu enjoyed being in a household with people who appreciated her, and Seiko was always glad to have a close friend at hand to blab to- which is what they were doing now.

"Are you sure you'll be fine for the night?" Seiko was asking.

"Certain." Miyu nodded. "We'll be fine here. You should just focus on having fun. Naomi have been planning this sleepover for weeks, haven't you?" Her cousin had been talking about this evening's sleepover at her best friend's for ages now. Part of the reason it was possible was her cousin had agreed to watch the house and Seiko's siblings overnight. She'd been overjoyed, but her mother hen instincts kept her just a little grounded on the issue.

"Oh yes!" Seiko confirmed. "Weeks of planning. Weeks of recon. Weeks of scheming. And the day has finally come!" She brandished her hair curler the way a general might've his sword when commanding troops. "I'll finally get to be inside her house! A chance to plant my flag!"

"Is that all you'll be doing?" Miyu nudged her with her elbow. It was no secret, to her at least, that Seiko's feelings for her best friend were a little more than just that even though she insisted otherwise.

"Maybe." Seiko said mysteriously. "All sorts of opportunities may arise!" She sounded absolutely excited as the prospect of finding all those possibilities out. "Thank you for volunteering to hold down the fort, I'd never get a chance like this otherwise!" She leaned towards her cousin with a knowing smirk. "I'll return the favor one day." She winked. Her cousin didn't respond, but seemed to smile a little as she daydreamed.

As much as the pair wanted to stand and imagine, there was work to be done. Seiko's dad had to leave early for work, leaving it the girls' responsibility that the younger members of the family got to school. And after that they had to get to school as well. But there'd be plenty of time to talk there too, and with their friends- today's preparations and tomorrow's event were important to all of them.

X

One of the orchestrators of that event was the Class Rep. The other, also a girl, was in the bathroom of her home brushing her short brown hair with one hand and talking into her cell phone with the other. The person on the other end was none other then Shinozaki, questioning her compatriot on her own responsibilities in the affair.

"Yes, they're all done." The girl was promising. "I can't wait to show them to everyone later!" The items in question were meant for the girls, and she was hoping they all would like them. But she was also interested in hearing what the boys in their group of friends thought about them, though there was one person in particular who she's was eager to hear comment.

"That's great, Suzumoto." Shinozaki sounded relieved. "You've really outdone yourself this time."

"Thanks." She smiled at the compliment. As a avid and popular member of Kisaragi's Drama Club, Shinozaki had sought for help and expertise on crafting the necessary clothing for their event at the Cultural Festival, and she'd been more than happy to help. She was sure all her friends would love them, and hopefully a good amount of the school as well. "I'll see you at school." She hung the phone up and checked the time, noting she should be heading out the door soon.

Finishing up her hair, she headed into her room, empty aside from a bed and a few stacked boxes, grabbed up her schoolbag, and headed downstairs. "Mom? Dad?" She called through the mostly empty house.

"Mayu?" Her mother called back, and she found her in the kitchen packing dishes.

"I'm going to school." Mayu told her. A weary smile came on her mothers face.

"Ok, have a nice day." She nodded.

"Is dad still here?" Mayu normally said goodbye to both her parents in the morning, but her mother sighed and shook her head.

"No, he left early for the office again. He has a lot to take care of before he transfers."

"Oh." There was just a fraction of a second where Mayu's happy expression seemed to falter before she perked back up. "Ok then! I'm off to school."

"Have a great day." Her mother repeated as Mayu left the house. Down on the sidewalk, she pulled our her phone and called the name at the very top of her contact list.

X

The recipient of her call, a black haired youth, was in his own home sitting at the kitchen table with his parents. Yet the setting lacked the hospitality one would normally associate with such a scene. Rather, the air seemed bleak. Not exactly hostility, more along the lines of indifference. The boy didn't interact with or even face his parents, and vise versa. It was all quiet, at least until the youth's phone began to ring and he pulled it out.

"I'm going to school." He stood quickly and made for the door, schoolbag in hand. As soon as he was outside, he answered.

"Good morning, Shige-nii!" The bright, happy voice chirped immediately, making him smile slightly.

"Good morning, Mayu." He returned the greeting. Mayu was the only one who called him that. To anyone else, he preferred to be called Morishige. But he had no qualms about his best friend giving him a nickname. "How are you?"

"I'm okay. Thanks for asking!" Mayu's immerse popularity at school probably came from the fact she was so cheery and trustworthy with everyone. It was kind of surprising he was such good friends with her; he was virtually the opposite: a quiet and unsociable type. But they got along surprisingly well, and Morishige had to admit having her as a friend made life much less dull. "How are you?" She went on.

"Fine." Morishige answered. "I'm heading to school now."

"Great!" Mayu really could be happy about anything. "I can't wait till later today. I have something for the Culture Festival to show everyone, and I'm hoping they'll all like it."

"I'm sure everyone will love it, Mayu." Morishige assured her. "In fact, I know everyone will. Nobody's ever hated anything you've ever made." His complement made her giggle.

"Thanks, Shige-nii." She told him. "You haven't forgotten we're staying after school to help set up for tomorrow, right?" She asked, turning serious. Mayu was a happy person, but she was very down to earth of serious matters. Truthfully, Morishige loathed physical work like the kind they'd all be doing this afternoon. But since it was Mayu asking him...

"Of course I remember."

"Okay!" Mayu went back to her regular mood. "I'll see you at school, Shig-nii."

"I'll see you there, Mayu. Goodbye." He tucked the phone back in his pocket and continued walking, a slight smile on his lips.

X

Meanwhile, Satoshi was just then reaching the two-story apartments where Yoshiki lived. The neighborhood wasn't too pretty, being in the older part of the city, and it did have a bit of a crime problem, but it was the only place Yoshiki could live with his earnings- he sustained himself. It was quite a feat for a high school student.

"Oi!" Just as he approached the building, he heard a voice call down to him. He glanced up to see his best friend waving at him. Satoshi waved back and waited till Yoshiki came down onto the street. Unlike Satoshi, Yoshiki chose to wear the jacket with his uniform. "Always gotta follow me around?" He didn't say it in a mean way, just a joke since Satoshi could be surprisingly forceful about getting his friend to school sometimes. "Why would I skip today?" He punched Satoshi on the shoulder and the two started walking.

"I didn't think you would." Satoshi defended. "I only came this morning before Shinozaki asked me to."

"Shinozaki asked you?" Yoshiki repeated, looking confused and sounding a little offended.

"Yeah." Satoshi flipped open his phone to show his friend the text. "I wouldn't worry about it." He assured Yoshiki. "She's been talking about the Culture Festival for weeks now. I bet she's woke up all the others too."

"I guess. Shinozaki is REALLY scary when she wants something." Yoshiki admitted. "And she does want this to go off without a hitch." He sighed. "Still..." He mumbled to the side. "So if you knew I was going to come today anyway, why did you come all the way out here to walk with me? Doesn't your sister whine when you do this?"

"Yeah." Satoshi confessed. "But Shinozaki did ask me, and she'll probably check once we get there."

"You really need to learn to say no to women." Yoshiki laughed and elbowed Satoshi in the side, a gesture which was returned. "Otherwise they're going to run you into the ground after school."

"They'll do it to you too." Satoshi warned. Yoshiki just shrugged.

"Are you sure you didn't come here just to avoid Shinohara's cousin?" Yoshiki asked. At the mere mention of the name, both males glanced around defensively. Both Shinohara girls had a reputation as eccentric trouble makers who got their thrills messing with their small band of friends. And Miyu seemed to have a certain fondness for bothering Satoshi, to the boy's often embarrassment or occasional horror.

"I just came because Shinozaki asked me." He defended, and Yoshiki rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." He gave his friend a slap on the back and they headed off to school.

XX A/N XX

Those of you knowledgeable of the Corpse Party franchise's many official adaptions probably started having horrific flashbacks during the third section. Rest assured, I am borrowing the character and the character only. Adding additional people to the group for the charm is a good way to mix the story up, and better a official character than an OC. Besides, she's probably the only halfway decent idea that adaption had, and least offensive. Those of you wondering what I'm rambling about, consult the wikia.

Other then that, this AU will have a few influences from the game's official manga adaption, which had much more humor and shipping in it. What other changes there are... you'll have to wait and see.


	2. Chapter 2

Cultural Context: I would like to think IIonezerozero for informing me of this. Since in Japanese culture, you refer to people by their surnames, it poses the question what you do if there are family members with the same surname? Well, you simply refer to them by their first name or a title, hence why throughout this story some of the group may refer to Seiko by her first name on occasion.

X

Ayumi had gotten to school earlier than anyone else in 2-9. As the Class Representative and a near perfect student, this wasn't actually a unusual occurrence. Only today it had been completely intentional on her part. While she'd successfully roped in her friends to help, she wanted to ask others members of Class 2-9 for assistance as they arrived. The more people they had, the quicker the work would be done.

She felt her determination was valid. It wasn't just about being the best class, it was about Suzumoto; the Cultural Festival would be her last day at the Academy before she moved. A lot of people, even Mayu, didn't like to acknowledge the fact. But they all knew, and it would be a hard goodbye just on its own. That meant the day had to be perfect in every way. Since Mayu was so popular, Ayumi didn't think it would be too hard to wrangle in more help.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Of the other 20 students in Class 2-9, approximately none would be convinced to stay after school to help, all giving excuses or simply not caring. Apparently Mayu's popularity wasn't enough to get some extra help. It left the Class Rep is a somewhat bitter mood as the morning went on.

Classes didn't start till eight, allowing the students to arrive and socialize for a little while. Suzumoto and Morishige arrived first. "Good morning, Shinozaki!" Mayu waved as soon as they arrived.

"Class Rep." Morishige nodded. While Morishige was a member of their group of friends, he wasn't particularly chatty with any of them but Mayu. But he was cordial and polite enough.

"Good morning, you two." Shinozaki greeted them.

"I wanted to wait until before english class to show everyone." Mayu's excitement was evident when she jumped right into business. "So Ms. Yui as a chance to see them too." Yui Shishido was Class 2-9's T.A and English teacher, and quite easily the most popular of the teachers that taught the class because how happy and cheerful she was with the students, whereas other teachers seem to just be earning a paycheck. As the Class Rep, Ayumi got to interact with her more, and the two were even close to friends.

"Ok." Ayumi nodded in agreement. Ms. Yui was also going to be the supervisor tomorrow as well, so it only made sense they'd show her too. They didn't get to converse any longer than that because many of the other students were coming over by then to greet Mayu and talk to her. Her popularity earned her that attention, at least. It was when the crowd formed the Morishige reluctantly headed for his desk.

Shinohara and her cousin arrived next. While Ayumi considered them both friends, they did tend to get on her nerves the most of their group. Seiko's brand of humor often involved invading other's personal space and business. Miyu... Ayumi had her reasons. But both girls were very cheery though, even if they're home life was a bit stressful, and they kept the moral up for everyone, so Ayumi respected them. The three exchanged greetings before the other two girls left to discuss something between themselves.

Kishinuma was the next to arrive, which must've meant Satoshi got her message. The blond had a rocky history in the class, if he'd attended it even, although Shinozaki would admit he'd changed quite a lot recently. He wasn't above poking fun at other people or outright insulting them sometimes still, but he was generally respectful to his friends and had a surprisingly decent participation in class and events. Still, old habits died hard and Shinozaki _was_ on overdrive, hence why she'd asked Satoshi to get him.

Where was Satoshi, anyway?

"Morning, Shinozaki." Yoshiki came to greet her.

"Good morning, Kishinuma." She responded politely. "Wasn't Satoshi with you?" She missed the disappointed look that crossed his face.

"He's talking to Nakashima in the hall." He shrugged and headed off for his desk. Sure enough, the two brunettes entered the room soon after engaged in conversation. Ayumi felt a drop in her mood at the sight, but remained outwardly the same.

"Good morning, Class Rep." Naomi greeted.

"Good morning, Nakashima, Mochida." She turned to address Satoshi. "Thanks for getting Kishinuma."

"It was no problem." Satoshi shook his head. "He was already heading to school when I caught up to him."

"Mhm." Shinozaki acknowledged. None of them noticed the ex-delinquent sighing at his desk.

"Good morning, Seiko." Naomi had sensed her friend crawling up behind her and turned to face her. That had been one of Seiko's first tricks to get a glimpse of her friend's panties, and one she still occasionally tried.

"Good morning, Naomi!" Seiko jumped up and wrapped her best friend in a tight hug, pretending she just hadn't been caught sneaking. She then took the opportunity to squeeze Naomi's ass. "Ah, squishy as always..."

"Seiko!" Naomi shoved her cackling friend away while the surrounding people just watched awkwardly. Things like that never seemed to get boring or any less awkward, nevermind that they happened everyday in the girls' strange friendship.

"Good morning, Satoshi!" Miyu took advantage of his stunned state to grab his hands.

"Eh, good morning Shinohara." He responded awkwardly before backing away. Ayumi had watched with a pang of annoyance. With the entire group present, everyone came over and managed to exchange greetings before classes started a few minutes later. They'd have more time to talk later. Besides, at least to Ayumi, school took priority over social life. Winter break was just over a month away, and important tests before it.

But Ayumi was counting the ticks on the clock to the interlude between 2nd and 3rd Period- English. She really was eager to see what Suzumoto had pulled off, and a few hours later she got her chance. While Mayu rushed Morishige out of the room to help her, the rest of the group came together around Suzumoto's desk.

"Oh, I can't wait." Seiko could and would be excited about almost anything. "You're going to look so pretty!" She told Naomi. Truth be told, her friend wasn't that fond of girly clothes, which Mayu certainly would have made, but she was still interested in trying on what was made. The girls were a lot more excited about it then the boys, which wasn't to say they were uninterested. But the fact they'd be handling the grunt work tomorrow while the girls actually ran the room made them a little less enthusiastic.

The Drama Club duo returned a few minutes later. Morishige was caring the clothes, which were obscured by a small cloth draped over them. Mayu had wanted to wait till the very last moment for the surprise, so she didn't let them get even a glimpse till she returned to her desk.

"Tada!" She pulled off the sheet to reveal five old fashioned kimonos, two brown and three black, and started handing them out to the other four girls. "The brown ones are for Shinozaki and me, since we'll be at the stand and preparing the food. The black ones are for the other girls that'll be going around the tables." She explained this mainly to the boys while the girls were unfolding the kimonos. Unfolding the black ones revealed they were elaborated decorated, compared to the brown ones which were a little more plain.

"You stitched these yourself?" Ayumi asked in surprise. Mayu nodded earnestly. "These are perfect!" Ayumi declared, much to her friend's joy. For the following day, they were turning the classroom into a sweet's shop, with the main offer being a tradition Japanese dish- Red Bean Soup. Old fashioned wear like this would complement it greatly.

The girls pulled on the kimonos over their school uniforms and marveled at how comfortable they felt. Mayu even provided a small mirror so they could all look at themselves.

"I knew you'd look pretty!" Seiko gushed as she circled around her friend, privately wishing that was the _only_ thing Naomi was wearing.

"Satoshi." Miyu grabbed his attention. "How does it look?" She spun around once.

"Huh?" He was confused by the question. "Uh, it looks good?" He said uncertainly, not noticing the jealous look some of the other students in 2-9 were giving him. Seiko smirked at the interaction until she noticed Naomi averting her gaze from it, at which point she grabbed Satoshi to spin him around.

"Oh Mochida, doesn't Naomi look nice?" She steered his eyes towards the other brunette.

"Y-yeah." He stuttered, blushing. Seiko snickered when Naomi blushed as well and the two turned to look elsewhere. Then she noticed the disappointed look on her cousin's face and stopped.

'Sorry'. She mouthed. Miyu just smiled and shrugged it off.

"What do you think, Shig-nii?" Mayu asked. Even though they weren't as decorative as the black ones, she'd still put a lot of effort into the brown kimonos.

"They're very lovely." He said without hesitation, making his best friend giggle in happiness.

"Thanks." She nodded, very happy now. Standing by Ayumi, Yoshiki opened his mouth to compliment her, but lost his chance when she started speaking.

"Thank you so much, Suzumoto."

"It was no problem!" She insisted. "I haven't heard your opinion, Kishinuma." Mayu was like Seiko in the fact they could both notice Yoshiki's interest in the Class Rep, so she was giving him another chance to complement her. But Yoshiki had walked off in frustration and didn't hear her. Ayumi just shook her head disapprovingly, and Mayu decided to stop damaging the poor boy's standing with her.

"Oh, are those for tomorrow?" A voice caught their attention.

"Ms. Yui!" They all greeted their favorite brown haired teacher. Her popularity was probably contributed to by her youth- she was less then decade older than all of her students, and had been a student at the Academy not too long ago. It made a lot of her students feel more at ease around her.

"I made them myself!" Mayu explained.

"You did a wonderful job." Ms. Yui complemented. "I'm sure everyone will be talking about 2-9 tomorrow."

"Ms. Yui." Ayumi spoke up. "I asked around, but it'll just be the eight of us staying after school today, so we might be a little late leaving if that's okay?"

"Of course." She nodded, then her expression changed to one of slight concern. "You won't be here long, I hope?" Ms. Yui asked. "I don't want any of my students walking back home in the dark where something might happen to them."

"We won't." Ayumi promised. Ms. Yui smiled and turned back to Mayu.

"You should put those away- next period starts soon." Ms. Yui warned.

"Ok." Mayu nodded while the other girls began shrugging off the wear.

After the Kimonos had been returned, Suzumoto folded each of them up neatly before stacking them. Morishige again helped her carry them as they were returned to the dressing room in the school's drama department. She'd let the other girls get a taste, but she was determined that the robes stay in pristine condition until they were needed. But that was the highlight of the day, and the rest was powering through the rest of their classes.

The day eventually ended, with all but eight of the students quickly running from the room. Not even a minute after the bell had rung, Shinozaki was up and listing all the things they needed to get done, what she wanted everyone doing, and stressing the importance of what they were doing.

The workload wasn't immense, but it was long. The classroom itself had to be extensively cleaned and slightly decorated, a task the girls quickly got to. The boys were tasked with removing the majority of the desks and then hauling in the tables that would be used for customers and the stand for serving. And after that they had to set the tables and make sure the dishes, a few dozen, and food they would need for tomorrow were prepped and ready. All in all maybe a hour or two's worth of work.

"Ah, foiled." Seiko sighed as Naomi and her cleaned one corner of the room.

"What are you talking about?"

"We could be at your place right now." Seiko said it as if it was heaven on earth. Before they'd been volunteered to help here, the original plan had been to tear out at the end of school, do some shopping, and head to Naomi's house for the night.

"It's only an hour or two." Naomi reminded her. Seiko actually wasn't an impatient person, it was just another way of showing her eagerness for the night's event.

"I guess." Seiko sighed. She glanced around the round; the other three girls were split up cleaning the other three corners of the room. "I'll be right back, Naomi." Seiko told her friend before moving over to help her cousin.

"Sorry about earlier." Seiko whispered as she swept. Miyu's interest in Satoshi was obvious to everyone but the boy himself. But Seiko knew Naomi liked him too, and often encouraged her friend to follow through with those feelings. It was moments like that though that Seiko became conflicted as to who to support. a feeling she greatly disliked. Did she support her best friend for whom she wanted nothing but happiness, or her family member that had given her so much help these past few years. It was no easy problem.

"It's fine." Miyu lied. "I was just messing with him. Did you see the look on his face when he saw Naomi?" She did a great impression of a humored smile. Seiko forced a smile back before returning to help Naomi.

On the other side of the room, Ayumi had drifted over to talk to Mayu.

"You're okay?" Ayumi asked. Mayu was a naturally happy person, but with what tomorrow was bringing, it was hard to believe her behavior genuine.

"Of course!" Mayu didn't hesitate. Tomorrow was a big event students looked forward to every year. She didn't want to ruin it to anyone by stealing its importance.

"Tomorrow really won't be the last day." Ayumi reasoned. "We'll still be friends." At the Class Rep's persistence, Mayu's facade faltered. Truthfully, it tore her up inside having to leave. Her friends she knew so well. A school with such friendly people and a teacher. A certain boy...

"I know." She answered. "That's what makes leaving bearable." She looked back as the three boys came in to carry more desk out. "It's the thought that counts." She reasoned. Ayumi frowned at the depressed look on her friends face. She could understand why no one wanted to bring it up, but surely there was something more they could be doing to reassure her. Action spoke louder than words, after all.

"Hmm." Shinozaki said to herself. It might have been too late to rope in the others, but maybe she herself could do something. She'd have to give it some thought when she got home tonight.

It was close to an hour before the classroom was entirely clear, which then meant it was time to build the cafe. The first thing the girls had the boys do were carry in the two stands that they'd be manning tomorrow. While the girls decorated the stand, the boys carried in the tables.

"Hold...on." Satoshi panted after they'd hauled up a second table. "Rest for a minute?" He asked. Unlike him, Yoshiki was use enough to physical labor to not be winded. Morishige, wisely limiting himself to only carrying chairs, was just as fine as well.

"Satoshi, quit being lazy." Naomi teased.

"Oi, we only got six more tables to carry up." Yoshiki added.

"Only six?" Ayumi repeated as the girls put the finishing touches on the stand. They'd already knocked out half their to-do list, and it wouldn't take all of them to finish bringing in the tables. They could start on the other things. "In that case, I think I'll go start on the dishes. Will anyone-"

"Shig-nii and me will help!" Mayu quickly volunteered, moving over to grab his arm. Shinozaki nodded.

"And someone has to go to the kitchen and make sure all the food we need it there. Seiko, Shinohara?"

"Roger! We got it!" Both Shinohara girls nodded. Cooking was a regular household duty, so they knew their way around food. That only left Satoshi, Yoshiki, and Naomi here in 2-9.

"Ah." Ayumi said out loud when she realized that. "Can you three finish with the tables?" She asked them.

"As long as these two aren't lazy about it, we can." Naomi jerked her thumb at the two boys.

"Hm, alright." Ayumi nodded. They split up into those three groups to take care of their assigned tasks. Naomi left to go get the table clothes and Satoshi and Yoshiki decided it was better to get another table then get caught still lounging around.

"Since Morishige is playing house wife, we'll have to get the chairs too." Yoshiki reminded his friend, annoyed himself at the extra chore. Satoshi responded with a tired nod, already wishing to go home and take a bath. That tiredness cost him a bump on the head later when he stumbled while they were carrying a table up the stairs, Yoshiki only managing to grab it and prevent it from knocking Satoshi all the way down. Fortunately, it was just a bump.

"A _table_ , Satoshi?" Naomi asked when she noticed. "You're so clumsy." She made him stand still so she could lean in and check.

"It's fine." He insisted despite the aching.

"Should I leave?" Yoshiki spoke up, and the two quickly backed away from each other, blushes evident. Naomi recovered first.

"Just get the rest of those tables up here." Naomi ordered, and they got back to work.

About halfway through, Seiko and her cousin came back and gave them a hand, Seiko helping set the tales and Miyu helping carry the chairs up. With the extra hands, the tables were finally finished a few minutes later and they could all finally rest and talk about their expectations for tomorrow. The dishes trio returned later to find the rest of the group chatting. Ayumi was confident with their own work, but wanted to make sure the others had done their jobs well. Everything _had_ to be perfect.

The stand was set up, the shop name was scrawled neatly on the chalkboard, and they had a dozen tables set. The classroom was as ready as it could ever be. The dishes they would need for clean and set out in one of the other rooms, along with the food they would be making tomorrow. All the pieces were in place and they could have the restaurant open in just an hour.

There was nothing left to do, and the sky outside was a light orange. After a solid two hours, it was time to go. "Okay everyone." Ayumi rose her voice to be heard. "I think that's enough for tonight. We should all hurry home before it gets dark."

"At last!" Seiko gave a little jump for joy. "Let's go, Naomi!" She grabbed her friend's hand and started dragging her out of the room.

"See you both tomorrow." Yoshiki waved to Satoshi and the Class Rep as he left, the former who nodded and left as well. Morishige offered to walk with Mayu to the school gate, which she gladly accepted.

"Everyone get home safe!" Ayumi called, and they all headed off.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: The festival and the charm will be in the next chapter. Heavenly Host starts after that. Sorry if it's a slow boil for some people. But I like showing the characters, especially all of them while they're alive, in normal situations and exploring who and why they are (although I admit it's a bit choppy). The fandom could use more things like the Missing Footage OVA. If you haven't seen that, I recommend it- it shows what the characters were doing the night before. This chapter largely coincides with it, save the 3rd section because of the canon welding and because I think Book of Shadows takes canon precedent.

X

Ayumi was mostly a rational person. She took everything she learned in school and about the world as fact and important. But she also held a interest in the occult- secrets of the world. Charms, rituals, spells, things of that nature. She didn't take these things so seriously that it impaired any part of her life, but she still believed in them and often talked about them to her friends. Thinking of the hidden parts of the world and forces that trumped the natural side was just... fascinating.

She probably had her older sister Hinoe to blame for the interest. Her sister, a psychic now, had always had a calming and welcoming presence about her that had painted the occult subject in Ayumi's mind as a good thing, rather than fake or witchcraft as the rest of the world believed. Although it hadn't imprinted her so much she'd make it the center of her life- she actually hoped to be an illustrator after finishing high school.

Suzumoto, while not as deeply interested in the subject as Ayumi, still found subjects like charms interesting. A magical force based on one's kindness or love certainly held appeal to the girl who went out of her way to be happy and cheer everyone up. The two could spend hours talking about them. It was this interest that had given Ayumi an idea once she got home.

Maybe she could find a charm they could perform before Mayu left for their friendship? Something big was out of the question so late, but something as small as a charm could be done tomorrow. And Suzumotos certainly would like it. It would make the sendoff just a little less painful.

To that end, after finishing her homework obviously, she'd gone on the internet to search for such a charm. She followed a lot of blogs and the like on the subject, although it was sometimes hard to find genuine ones. Fortunately, she knew exactly where to look.

One of the blogs she followed belonged to one Naho Saenoki, a high school student much like Ayumi, but also a paranormalist, medium, and fairly accredited author. Ayumi read a lot of her work, and had to admit Naho was probably her favorite source of information for this subject matter. Strangely, she hadn't posted or released anything recently, although Ayumi periodically checked.

Still, Ayumi was sure she'd read about a friendship charm on the blog before it's cessation of activity. Pulling it up revealed she was right- the charm was the most recent post, although a few months old. "Sachiko Ever After." Ayumi read out loud. "'It's a sort of ritual that one can perform with friends to ensure their bonds of friendship are never broken, no matter how far or wide any may travel.' Perfect!" Ayumi smiled. It was just what she was looking for, and it could apply to all of them as well.

She read through the entirety of the instructions. It was a pretty simply charm; the only physical thing she'd need was a paper doll, which the blog provided a print out of. The rest was a chant she'd just have to relay to the others tomorrow. "Suzumoto's will like this." Ayumi nodded to herself. _Maybe Mochida will like it as well._ She thought. Although he found subjects like this scary (his reactions were always funny, and sometimes a little cute), he had a great commitment to friendships- that was one of the reasons Ayumi liked him so much.

To her frustration though, she got an error message when attempting to print the charm. When she went out to investigate, she found the family's printer was out of order at the worst possible time. Putting aside her annoyance, she grabbed her coat and some other necessary items and headed for the door. She could find a public printer in town to use. For giving Suzumoto a good send off, it was more than worth the walk.

X

With a growl of frustration, Yoshiki dropped his pen and let it roll off the faded table and onto the carpet before sitting back on his ragged old couch. "I hate homework." He muttered to himself and rubbed his tired eyes- he'd put in extra hours this week so he could skip today to help out in the classroom. Living on one's own with a part time job was hard enough, if Yoshiki's small and ragged apartment wasn't a clear enough sign. But that and school- Japanese school at that? Some days he was amazed he could keep it up.

It wasn't as if it was necessary. He could just drop out, starting working full hours someplace that didn't require a high school graduations. Places like that existed, and it would keep him alive. It wouldn't be a lavish life, but it would be an existence. Despite that option being available though, he still kept going to school, sometimes for entire weeks.

Part of it was a manifestation of his rebellion against his estranged parents: what better way to prove them wrong by making something decent of himself? A larger part of it was his friends. Satoshi was his best friend, and he got along with everyone else in their group. They were some of the only people who'd ever been genuinely nice to him. That wasn't really something to leave behind on a whim. But definitely the biggest reason he kept up with this taxing lifestyle was another person in their group: Shinozaki.

Their Class Rep had kept him from getting expelled, and possibly arrested. This before he was a part of the group. It had been a selfless act, and for him when he'd been completely in the wrong. You didn't find people like that often, let alone girls like that. Not only that, but she was smart and compassionate about everything she did.

And Yoshiki had fallen for her, before he'd even realized it, if he was honest with himself. It had been obvious to everyone else as well... Everyone but Ayumi herself. As much as he'd changed his ways and tried to appeal to her, she didn't seem to pick up anything and still treated him- sternly, sometimes- as just a regular friend. Maybe he was doing wrong in his attempts.

Or maybe it was Satoshi- the Class Rep was crazy about him... along with Nakashima and, oddest of all, Shinohara's cousin. He was a good guy, Yoshiki would admit, but how the hell did he get that much attention? Yoshiki got the impression sometimes Ayumi only stayed around him was because Satoshi and him always hung out together.

How was a man to win?

He didn't know, and he couldn't think of any tactic changes despite getting nowhere. Yet at the same time he wasn't willing to give up. Part of him told him it wasn't going to work- they were polar opposites, really. But another part of his argued that Ayumi wasn't one to judge a person purely on things like their employment opportunities.

But the fact remained that he was getting nowhere, and his chances would only get worse next year when classes got reshuffled and he might end up in a different homeroom altogether. It was something that picked as his mind every day, yet he did nothing. Even now, it was picking at him.

No wait that was hunger.

Yoshiki grunted as he rose from the couch and headed for the apartment's small kitchen. "What to do?" He sighed as the conundrum returned to his mind. Maybe he should try a different approach? Be more straight forward? The winter break was coming up soon. Maybe...

The thought got cut off when he opened his fridge and caught sight of the empty shelves. "Damn." He muttered when he remembered he hadn't gone shopping yet. He actually had money for once, but he was tired and that homework wasn't going to finish itself. Still, food. "Guess I'll head into town." He decided. The homework could wait an hour or two. It wasn't as if it was due tomorrow anyway. After tomorrow, he'd be in more than a good mood to finish it then.

X

Seiko was in heaven. Of course, just being close to Naomi was heaven in itself. But to be in her friend's house! She'd gotten to meet Ms. Nakashima, finally explore her friend's room, and even got a chance to rummage in Naomi's underwear drawer while she went to use the toilet. But the highlight of the day had to have been the bath they shared after getting back. That wasn't a memory she would forget anytime soon.

Though it was getting late, the two girls were still up in Naomi's room, talking and gossiping in their pajamas while snacking on the various items they'd picked up on the way from school. It wasn't any different from what they would do at school or in town, but now that they were doing it in Naomi's house, it seemed so different. It felt like they were closer, something Seiko thoroughly enjoyed.

Yes, no matter how much she'd denied it to her cousin or insisted her intrusive nature for just playful, Seiko did in fact have feelings for her best friend. Contrary to the implications of her actions, it wasn't really a physical attraction (although Naomi was VERY pretty and well endowed). It was Naomi's bright and cheerful personality that Seiko found so endearing, as well as her maternal instincts that showed through every so often. It all reminded Seiko faintly as her missing mother, not surprising since they'd read before that people look for partners with traits similar to their parents.

But she'd never acted on those feelings. A small part of it was because they were both girls, after all. The idea wasn't outlawed in the Japan, or widely disapproved of. Some people saw it as immature, but overall there wasn't a major issue. Still, it wasn't common. The other reason...

"He can't even carry a table without getting hurt." Seiko laughed when Naomi finished the story about what had happened to Satoshi during preparations. Even though Naomi wouldn't outright say it, it was painfully obvious she had a crush on the brunette boy she'd know for so long, and vise versa. Satoshi was a nice boy, they'd make such a good couple, and Naomi would be happy. Seiko couldn't get in the way of that, could she?

It was a selfless kind of love, where all that mattered to Seiko was Naomi got what she wanted. As long as it was like that, what did it matter is Naomi didn't feel the same?

"Hehehe." Seiko laughed mischievously. "Naomi, you keep talking about Mochida. You should've just invited him over for a sleepover."

"Huh?" Naomi blushed a little. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Half the stuff you've talked about tonight was about Mochida." Seiko pointed out. Naomi averted looking her friend in the eye.

"I-I was just talking about how much of a klutz he is." Naomi insisted.

"Suuure." Seiko rolled her eyes. "Even though you bring him up every day."

"No I don't." Naomi retorted, a little too quickly and little too unsure sounding. It only motivated Seiko to keep up the assault.

"Naomi." Seiko shook her head. "If you're going to stalk that boy, you should start keeping an observation journal." Seiko reached behind her and pulled a decorative journal from her bag. "I can lend you one if you want?"

"...You still have those?" Naomi asked. It wasn't the first time she'd heard of Seiko's observation journals- the perverted brunette had kept one on Naomi till she threw it out a classroom window in flustered embarrassment.

"Of course!" Seiko responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "How else am I going to keep up with all the information of my precious Naomi?" To Naomi's slight horror, Seiko reached into her bag and pulled out yet another journal and flipped it open to read. "Last Monday was blue underwear, Tuesday was pink."

"Seiko!" Blushing furiously, Naomi made a grab from the journal, which Seiko gracefully dodged and continued reading.

"Wednesday was white. And Thursday was-" Naomi's room wasn't very large, so Seiko didn't have many avenues of escape before her friend could tackle her and pry the journal from her hands.

"Honestly." Naomi sighed as she sat down on the bed. "How much have you written about me?" Naomi flipped the journal open to look for herself. While she was flipping through the pages and the rather detailed notes Seiko had taken, said schoolgirl sat up behind her and snaked her hands around Naomi's midsection before fastening onto her chest.

Naomi gasped, jumped up, and spun around. "Seiko!" Naomi took a swat at her friend with the journal.

"Aw, were you hoping it was Mochida?" Seiko guessed.

"It's not like that!

"Ah, Naomi." She tutted. "You can't fool me." She stood up and grabbed her bag. "I'm going to call home one last time to make sure everything's ok over there." Her smile turned to a perverted grin. "While I'm out of the room you could lock the door and get Mochida off your mind..." Seiko dodged the journal turned projectile and left the room, still cackling.

X

"Yes, yes. Everyone's had dinner and washed up." Miyu reported.

"Ah, ok." Her cousin responded. Despite all assurances, Seiko really couldn't help but worry. It was a shame, Seiko spending what should've been some of her best years always playing mother and worrying. "It wasn't too much work?"

"Not at all!" Miyu insisted. "I have everything under control here, just enjoy the sleepover!"

"Hmm...If you say so." Seiko finally seemed convinced. "Thanks again for doing this. Yuu and them are still so little, but they keep wanting to help. I want them to stay kids as long as possible."

"Of course." Miyu nodded. It was a fear both of them shared, and one they often brought up if only to get reassurance from the other. "Everything is fine for tonight." Wanting to turn her cousin's mood around, she changed the subject. "So...what have you and Naomi been doing over here?" There was no immediate response, but acute ears would've picked up the muffled giggling Seiko was trying to hide over the phone.

"Oh, nothing much." Seiko said in a tone that suggested the exact opposite.

"Ooh, do tell." Miyu pressed.

"Nuh-uh." Seiko refused adamantly. "My memory only."

"If you say so." Miyu accepted defeat, although she was glad her cousin was having so much fun with her crush. "I should let you two get back to it then."

"Ah. Right." Seiko agreed. "I'm burning daylight!" She declared. "I better get going. Make sure everyone gets to bed on time."

"I will." Miyu promised. "Have fun." The two girls exchanged goodbyes and hung up. Miyu set her phone on the bedside table and laid back on her bed to stare at the ceiling. Seiko and her shared the same room, and it seemed awfully quiet without her cousin here. Quiet, and a little lonely with the perfect duo split apart.

It was actually surprising how similar to two girls were when they actually hadn't had much contact growing up; they'd lived at least 100 miles apart and only met on maybe two family functions before then. Yet somehow they'd developed very similar personalities and interests, albeit for different reasons. They even had the exact same problem in the romantic aspects of their lives.

That observation in mind, her thoughts drifted to Satoshi. Such a friendly boy. By no means were the rest of her friends judging or any less kind, but there was something about Satoshi that just hooked her. His kindness? His trusting nature? Maybe boys like that were actually common, but Satoshi was the first one Miyu had ever met that was actually willing to get to know her. Just for that, she'd grown to like him.

Ah, but Naomi liked him too, and Miyu was certain the feelings were returned. Not surprising when those two had known each other for so long. Naomi did beat Miyu in more than a few categories as well. And while Satoshi was accepting of her, anything more might be asking too much. But to just have so many good friends was enough for Miyu. Still, some days it was just a little painful, and seeing how hard it was for Seiko to get through each day had made Miyu apprehensive of ever actually confessing.

She stopped her thoughts long enough to look over at her clock and note the time. It getting late. Not too late by teenager standards, but for her smaller cousins, it should be bedtime. It was probably best to get to bed early tonight herself; she'd need the rest for tomorrow's busy day.

"Aya, Kei, Yuu, bedtime!" She called to the three children running around the house. Even if she didn't have luck in her romantic endeavors, she could always come back here and help take care of them. It was almost just as good a feeling, and while losing Satoshi was a possibility, she knew they weren't.

She'd never lose or leave any of them.

X

Satoshi had been relieved to finally get home and relax. He didn't mind helping friends, he just wasn't the most suitable person for physical exertion. Unluckily for him, Yuka hadn't let him get any relaxation yet, first interrupting his bath and now pestering him with questions and stories of her day. Since he hadn't been there to walk her to and from school, she was catching up on lost time.

"What happened to your head?" Yuka stopped her ramblings when she noticed the prominent mark on her brother's forehead. Satoshi was at his desk attempting to finish homework and Yuka was bouncing up and down on his bed, not making any effort to be quiet.

"Huh? Oh." Satoshi had almost forgotten the minor injury he'd received. "Just bumped my head on a table setting things up. Naomi looked at it and said its fine."

"Oh." Yuka acknowledged and stopped bouncing.

"Hmm? Yuka, is something wrong?" Satoshi saw his sister sulking on his bed. "Are you still mad I didn't walk with you this morning?" Yuka looked away from him, 'yes' in Yuka-speak. "Really?" Satoshi sighed. "I can walk you to school tomorrow." When that didn't work, he offered something more. "Will you forgive me if I go to visit your class tomorrow?"

"Really?" Yuka turned to him. "Yuka would like that." Satoshi smiled, glad to have found something to make it up to her.

"I'll come by tomorrow then, I promise." Yuka perked up at the news.

"Ok!" She said excitedly. "Yuka can show you the decorations she made!"

"I look forward to it." Satoshi nodded. "And maybe you can come by my classroom and see the café we set up."

"Does that mean I can meet your friends too?" Yuka asked. She'd always been curious about the friends her brother talked about often. And even if she was a little jealous Satoshi spent so much time with them, Yuka wanted to meet them. If her brother liked them, they had to be nice, right?

"Sure." Satoshi nodded.

"Thank you!" Yuka started jumping up and down again. "I can't wait!"

"I bet." Satoshi sighed as the noise started up again. "Yuka, can you let me finish my homework?" She immediately stopped.

"Aww." She pouted, but got up and left.

 _She's lucky._ Satoshi thought. Still so care free and innocent… As a high school student, Satoshi was already being pressed to decide his future. But he really didn't want to think too much about it right now, just enjoy his current time with his friends.

Tomorrow would be a great time with them. And Satoshi would still have his whole life after tomorrow. He could worry then.

X

"That's all..." Mayu repeated to herself as she lay on her bed, her earlier phone call with Morishige still very much fresh on her mind. Had that really been all she wanted to say. No, if she was honest with herself. But it had been all she was able to say.

It wouldn't have mattered in a few days even if she had said it, so why bother? She'd be gone… The thought made her sigh and roll to her side, staring forlornly at one of the bare walls of her room. Tomorrow would be her last day at Kisaragi, and that night the last in this house. The next morning, they'd be moving to their new home.

The thought filled her with sadness and fear. Sadness at leaving all her unique friends she knew so well, a successful role in the theatre club, and a student body that adored her. Fear came to her when she thought of her new home and school. Could she get by without her friends there to defend her? Mayu has a bright girl, but she wasn't good with conflict. Would there be a theater club? Would she be able to make any new friends?

And what about her parents? Their relationship was already tense because of how often her father was at work, and it was clear her mother didn't like this anymore then she did. Mayu hated seeing it like that. Wouldn't their relationship just get worse after they moved? Without her friends there… how could she deal with it?

She wanted desperately to stay at Kisaragi. So desperately…

Her eyes started to water and she quickly rubbed them. Even if no one was around, she didn't want to cry. She should be strong, like Morishige always said she was. The thought reassured her somewhat.

And what would happen to Morishige after she was gone? He'd been reclusive until he met her. But after they'd become friends he was more social, more involved, much more friendly. She really hoped he wouldn't go back to being like that after she was gone…

She sighed. It was all unfair and almost tragic to her. But at the same time she didn't want to dwell on it, just on the good times they'd all had. She had only one day left with her friends tomorrow, and after that no one knew if they would see each other. She wanted to enjoy tomorrow most of all.

And maybe if tomorrow was great day, the memories would be enough to hold her through whatever happened after that. _Maybe…_ She hoped.


	4. Chapter 4

X A/N X

Double update because I managed to churn this out while being stuck on the last chapter. Since directly copying dialogue is a bit of a grey risk area on this site, the last part is changed and heavily paraphrased.

X

The big day was here. Even if some of them weren't morning people, the whole class of 2-9 showed up that morning, certain members earlier than others. Once again, Ayumi was the first present, followed not too long by Mayu bringing Morishige along. The rest of the group of friends arrived as the morning went on. Perhaps most surprising was that Yoshiki showed up before Naomi and Seiko did.

But they were all present and quickly got to work. The dishes were carried in and the foot set up. Mayu brought the Kimonos back up and the girls quickly slipped on the costumes. By 8:00, when classes would normally start, 2-9s Café was up and ready.

The rest of the class had gathered in the room and watched the proceedings. While a few of them would probably stay to see what their own Class Rep had set up (partly for the food and party for two of the most popular girls in school being there), most would undoubtedly go around the school. That was one of the neat aspects of the day: students could wander the whole school for the day largely unsupervised.

Before that though, the homeroom teachers had to brief their classes and remind them what was and wasn't allowed during the day. In the past students hadn't been above sneaking out. And some rooms could get physically competitive. It was just a reminder to keep things civil. And as soon as that was done, the classes were set free and the Culture Festival began.

"Most of all, everyone have fun!" Ms. Yui added to the end of her own reminder, the teacher having allowed her to do it. As the class started to spill out into the hall, she went to wish her students manning the room good luck before her monitoring duties occupied her for the rest of the day.

"It looks like you all did such a wonderful job!" Ms. Yui looked from the girls in their kimonos, to the stand, to the decorations, and finally to the food they'd already started on.

"Thanks, Ms. Yui!" Several of them responded at once. She smiled back at them.

"I'm sure it'll be one of the most popular rooms today." She went on. She cast a glance to the still departing crowd and realized she should already be in her designated spot. "You all have fun today too." She said quickly, and left. As busy as the day would be, there wouldn't be much time for talking or socializing for those with a set task.

As predicted, only a few members of class stayed behind. But the room was quickly filled with students from the other classes coming in to see for themselves. The group of eight were quickly tied up in the work as the café quickly ran out of available seating.

Word quickly spread around about all the better room attractions, and 2-9 was on everyone's list. As a result, the morning was extremely busy and back-breaking for those actually running it. Back-breaking, but fun. It was slightly past noon by the time the flow slowed down and everyone could catch their breath.

"I didn't think we'd get so many customers!" Mayu was very pleased with how the morning had gone.

"Everyone's been praising the food we've been serving." Ayumi nodded approvingly.

"Oh, I'm sure it was more than the food." Seiko reached over to Naomi's bust only to have her hand swatted away.

"We look so nice in these, everyone was staring." Miyu agreed with her cousin. Despite that, all the girls had shrugged off the kimonos so long as they were taking a break. The boys weren't as talkative, a lot more tired after having to carry dirty dishes and other excess off as the morning rush happened.

"I'll be back in a few." Despite his tiredness, Satoshi stood up. He had promised Yuka, after all.

"Oh, are you going to see the other rooms?" Ayumi asked. He shook his head.

"No, I told my sister I'd go see what was going on in her homeroom." At Satoshi's explanation, all his friends except for Yoshiki glanced his way.

"You have a sister?" Naomi asked.

"Yeah." Satoshi answered. "I have a little sister in the Junior High. Haven't I mentioned her before?" He asked, genuine confusion in his voice. Most of his friends shook their heads. "Oh." He seemed dumbfounded for a moment. "Well, I told her she could come here too, so I guess you'll all get a chance to meet her."

Needless to say, Satoshi left his friends intrigued as he walked out of the room.

"I wonder why he never mentioned he had a sister?" Ayumi wondered.

"Her name's Yuka." Yoshiki informed them, actually having something intelligent to contribute to the conversation.

"You knew?" Ayumi asked, wondering why Satoshi would tell him and not the rest of them. Although she would privately admit it was somewhat pleasing not even Nakashima had known.

"Yeah, he normally walks her to school every morning and she gets upset when he has to come get me." Yoshiki casually explained. "Can't even stand up to a little girl." He seemed amused at insulting his own friend.

"He does?" Naomi asked, somewhat touched at Satoshi's effort for his sibling.

"Aw, sounds like he makes a great big brother." Miyu commented. Yoshiki was left scratching his head and wondering how he'd managed to increase Satoshi's popularity.

Everyone's curiosity didn't prepare them for the surprise they got when Satoshi came back into the room several minutes later with obliviously younger girl behind him.

"Is that your sister?" Naomi asked as they craned their necks to get a look behind him.

"She's a middle school student?" Mayu asked. Ayumi and her were pretty short for their ages, but the girl behind Satoshi was not only short, but looked more like she belonged in the later years of elementary school rather than middle school.

Satoshi nodded and stepped to the side to let her introduce herself. She nervous stepped forward, hands clasped in front of her.

"H-hello everyone." She stuttered, looking up at the rest of them. "My name is Yuka Mochida. Thank you for being such good friends to my big brother." There was a moment of silence after her introduction until…

"She's so cute!" All the girls squealed at once, and Satoshi had to step out of the way when they rushed forward. Yuka seemed flustered and confused when Miyu scooped her up while the rest of the girls gathered around.

"Look how adorable she is." Seiko reached out to pinch her cheek, making the smaller girl squirm. "You got some tough competition, Naomi!" Yuka did get a little reprieve then when Naomi dragged her friend off to knock some sense into her.

"Satoshi, where were you hiding such an adorable little sister?" Miyu asked, and Yuka blushed at the compliment.

"Uhh…" Off to the side, Satoshi was at a loss of an answer. The question was quickly forgotten as the girls focused back on Yuka.

"My name's Mayu. It's nice to meet you." Mayu introduced herself.

"I'm Miyu."

"Ayumi Shinozaki."

"And I'm Seiko!" 2-9's resident peppy girl came back over, her cheeks thoroughly red from Naomi pulling on them in effort to get Seiko to stop being so perverted. As the girls crowded around, Satoshi backed away from the scene, still surprised.

"So that's the spoiled princess?" Yoshiki asked.

"Yep." Satoshi sighed. Yuka was indeed spoiled, and sometimes even babied by his parents for reasons he never could get. Although after seeing the unfolding events in front of him, he started to think it was her pure and innocent appearance. "Gets everything she wants from our parents, so she hasn't really grown up yet."

"That's hardly normal or healthy." Morishige critiqued, having remained quiet and at the back of the group till now.

"Yeah, I know." Satoshi sighed. He knew… but for whatever reason he was okay with it, no matter how irritating or ridiculous it sometimes got. That was always how Yuka had been, and probably would be. "Didn't think the girls would take such quick liking to her." He watched as Yuka seemed to be starting to suffocate under the attention.

Eventually, it did become too much for her. Yuka loved attention, but there was such a thing as too much. She made a break from it and hid behind her brother, an action so innocent and adorable it only increased her appeal.

Naomi, who went to great lengths sometimes to not appear too girly, recovered from the effect first.

"You really could've mentioned her before."

"I'm still surprised I didn't." Satoshi answered, looking slightly uneasy at how the girls were looking at him for standing in the way.

Fortunately for him and Yuka, they were distracted when Ms. Yui came back to see them. "Oh, who's this?" She asked, eyeing the scene with a little bit of humor and suspicion.

"I'm Yuka Mochida." She quickly introduced herself.

"Oh, a sister, Mochida?" She guessed. Satoshi nodded. "Well, welcome to Class 2-9 then." Ms. Yui smiled.

"Thank you." Yuka nodded respectfully.

"How's the Café coming along?" Ms. Yui looked around the mostly empty room.

"Very good!" Mayu said quickly. "We were busy all morning."

"Very busy." Yoshiki grunted, trying to stretch a sore muscle.

"You all must be doing a good job then." Ms. Yui realized. "But you should all at least take a break to see the rest of the school. There was a lot of imagination this year." As tempting as that was, none of them could summon up the energy just yet.

"Is the room closed right now?" Their T.A changed the subject. "There seems to be quite a mess here." She looked at the stand where there was a stack of dirty dishes the girls had yet to wash. Behind them, more noticeably, were several trash bags filled with food scraps and other trash that had accumulated during the last part of the rush.

"No." Ayumi looked over to Satoshi and Yoshiki. "They should've taken care of that already." She turned around to look at Morishige, who'd wisely moved out her line of sight once menial labor was brought up. "I'm sure they'll get to it right now and we'll get back to work.

"Ok then, I'll leave you all to it. Please do try and see the other rooms before the day's other." Their T.A told them. "I'll check in you all later."

Called out in front of their teacher, the boys had no choice but to get back to work. When the boys returned, they discovered in their short absence that not only had the other girls convinced Yuka to help them out with the café, they'd even managed to put her into a maid outfit to help attract customers.

"That's… kind of scary now." Yoshiki watched his swooning classmates with caution now instead of amusement.

"Yeah…" Satoshi was still surprised how quickly they'd taken to Yuka. But his little sister was more than happy to stay and help, and actually seemed to be having fun, so Satoshi didn't stop them.

With the new enlisted help, their Café experienced another hour long boom in customers, and with it a lot more work. The pace didn't last very long though.

The Class of 2-9's Café ended up closing two hours before school was over, them simply running out of stuff to serve. It wasn't all bad though, it meant all of them could take off the costumes and go see what all the other rooms had together. Haunted houses, other cafes, and a few other attractions kept them occupied for the rest of the Cultural Festival.

The school day eventually ended, and the masses departed with only a few small groups of students staying behind to clean up the great mess that the school had become. That included the eight members of Class 2-9, as well as Yuka after deciding she wanted to stay longer and not miss the chance to have her brother walk her home.

Cleaning up proved harder than the setup had been. There was a ton of trash that had to be collected and then carried down stairs to the dumpsters out back (a task even Morishige couldn't avoid after Mayu asked him), the decorations all had to be taken down and likewise thrown away, every single dish they'd used had to be cleaned, and the classroom had to be cleaned and the desks put back only after they carried everything else away.

Again, the group split up with the girls taking care of the decorations and then the dishes and the boys doing all the hard labor. Despite the near equal workload, there ended up being a gap and the boys ended up finishing first. It turned out the girls had spent just a little too much time still fawning over Satoshi's sister and were only halfway through the dishes by the time the boys had carried the desks back into the room despite it not being swept yet.

By that time, it was getting late and the sky was getting dark. Not from the sun going down, but rain clouds. By six o clock the rain was pouring down and the outside world had turned inky black, much to many of the umbrella-less student's dismay. The girl's had finally finished the dishes, and all that remained was sweeping the classroom and getting all the desks into proper order.

But that wasn't what they were doing. Ayumi was an efficient enough person to check weather forecasts, and had known this was going to happen. And so, she'd prepared another one of her favorite hobbies: telling ghost stories. She didn't get to do it often with her friends, so she wasn't going to miss an opportunity even if they were supposed to be doing something else.

At present, all nine of them were sitting around a lit candle the Class Rep had placed on the floor. It provided the only light in the room, barely illuminating those present. Satoshi, not very fond of such things, had tried to get out of it by reasoning Yuka was too young to be hearing the types of stuff Ayumi usually told them. Unfortunately for him, his sister had loudly stated she wanted to stay, leaving him no choice but to suck it up and stay too.

"It was a rainy evening after school, just like this one…" Shinozaki had chosen a story close to home, an occurrence that supposedly had happened on the very land they were now occupying. Despite it being an urban legend, her telling of it was much more impactful. Everyone's attention was rapt even though they obviously found it creepy. Naomi, Seiko, and Miyu were all huddled together, Mayu had grabbed on to Morishige's arm, and Yuka had pulled her trembling brother's arm over her shoulder to give herself comfort.

"Running down the stairs, the kindly teacher lost her footing. She tumbled, and she fell… and she died." Ayumi whispered ominously. "You've all heard the stories, no? Before Kisaragi Academy was built here, there was another school on this property." That wasn't fiction; the school was quite clearly stated to have been established only in the 1990s, less than two decades ago after another school was demolished. And if there was one shred of truth, one could easily believe all of it was true.

"It was called…Heavenly Host Elementary School. The principle was completely devastated to have something so terrible happen at his beloved school… But more misfortunes followed, and ultimately it was decided the school would close down. He was so stricken with grief over the loss, he threw himself from the roof on the same day the school closed…"

Yuka whimpered a little and moved in closer to her brother, who was still shaking like a leaf. Next to him, Yoshiki was looking calm, not the least bit put off by the story; he knew Shinozaki's playbook by now. Across from him, Morishige looked uninterested as well, or he was more interested in the girl holding on to his arm.

A clap of thunder sounded outside just then, making Satoshi gasp and jump, much to the other's amusement as someone thankfully turned the lights back on. Undeterred by the change in atmosphere, Ayumi continued with the story.

"People believed the school was cursed." Ayumi explained, her voice still a ominous whisper. "Her death was only one of many to occur there. That's why it was torn down. However!" She rose her voice to grab their attention and looked around at all of them, a devilish smirk on her face.

"They say the teacher who fell down the stairs never realized that she died, even to this day… And on rainy evenings just. Like. This." She put extra punctuation on the words and glanced at the rain outside. "After our school day is over, it is said she roams the darken hallways, still believing they are her own…"

"In fact!" Her voice rose with excitement. "It's almost time for her to make her rounds! Just after seven o' clock…" As expected, her words caused everyone to unconsciously glance toward the clock above the chalkboard. Just as she'd, the clock- which had been behind her so she couldn't see it- read 7:03.

"That's when she appears." Not content with just making everyone fearful of a clock, she continued still. "Accompanied by a blackout that turns the whole building dark of night…" Even with the lights on, her listeners hadn't really broken out of their poses. "'Knock, knock', you'll hear in the blackness, followed by the sound of the classroom door ssslowly sssliding open." Her hissing whispers only made her sound creepier.

"As her pale fact cuts through the stillness, her soft voice always asks the same question: 'Is anyone still here?' And then…" They didn't get to find out the next part, as a clap of thunder and flash of lightening interrupted the story. The room suddenly went dark except for the candle, and Satoshi screamed in terror, which in turn made the girls shriek in fear. The brunette jumped up, accidently knocking Yuka over, before stumbled back and falling down.

"A…a blackout!" He shrieked.

"Satoshi!" Naomi scolded, surprised at herself for scaring so easily. "Don't scare us like that! Get a grip on yourself!" She ordered. Still startled by the occurrence and the darkness, he jumped up and grabbed onto the closest thing he could find.

"But it was scary!" He protested.

"Big Brother!" Yuka whined, sitting back up.

"H-hey!" Naomi stuttered, embarrassment evident in her voice. "Satoshi, that's my chest!" As she said it, Satoshi realized whatever he'd grabbed onto was indeed big, round, and slightly squishy.

"Sorry!" Red with embarrassment, he immediately released them. "Couldn't see where I was grabbing." He quickly backed up back into the warmth of the candle light, where Yuka quickly grabbed onto his hand.

"Heheheh." Even in the darkness, Seiko's cackle of amusement was unmistakable. But she was the only one who found it funny.

"That- that wasn't supposed to happen." Ayumi said worriedly, the shadow of her concerned expression quite visible to the rest of them. Almost all of them believed it.

"Pretty good trick, Shinozaki." Yoshiki even added a slow clap. "I almost believed you for a minute."

"It wasn't me!" She retorted venomously. "I was here the whole time. This is a real blackout!" There was no faking the emotion in her voice.

"Does anyone hear that?" Mayu spoke up, causing everyone to go silent. They all became aware of a sound over the rain outside, one that seemed surprisingly similar to footsteps.

"Sounds like it's coming from outside." Morishige stated. Even as the most calm and collected member of the group, even he seemed off put by his observation.

"Big Brother, I'm scared." Yuka whimpered.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._ As soft as the sound was, it still made everyone freeze up as they heard it. Knocking, on the classroom door.

"…No!" Ayumi gasped in disbelief.

"We never should've stayed for this…" Satoshi realized far too late.

"Hey, Satoshi?" Yoshiki wasn't gripped by the same paralyzing fear as the others. "Aren't you going to get the door?"

"What?!" Satoshi asked, as if he couldn't quite believe what he'd been asked.

"All the girls are scared out of their minds." Yoshiki pointed it out. "Doesn't the sight just break your heart?" Looking back, it was very obvious how scared they all were, even the ones who were normally the most upbeat. Yuka was actually clinging to his leg by that point.

It did pull on Satoshi's good nature, but self-preservation prevailed. "Then why don't YOU get it?" He demanded.

"Hey," Yoshiki shrugged. "It doesn't break my heart." Even after the Class Rep's display of emotion, Yoshiki evidently wasn't buying any of this still.

"…Damn you, Yoshiki." Satoshi sighed and tried prying his sister off him. Someone had to do it, after all. He kept trying to reason with his mind that it was part of Shinozaki's elaborate and cruel pranks, or just a hallucination. Ghosts didn't really exist…right…?

"Stay with them." Satoshi passed Yuka off to Naomi, Seiko, and Miyu, all three who quickly shielded the little girl as Satoshi bravely but slowly crept towards the classroom door. _They aren't real._ The thought repeated in his head. _They aren't-_

"Is anyone still here…?" A soft female voice, unfamiliar to any of them, suddenly spoke up. Satoshi froze. Everyone, even Yoshiki, froze up behind him. "Go home, children…" The voice went on. And suddenly, the door was forcefully pushed open, the movement and bang concurrent with another roar of thunder outside.

Satoshi screamed and jumped back, tumbling into the teacher's podium. Another scream was on everyone else's lips as well, until they saw who had actually opened the door. Ms. Yui giggled as she came into the room. "Did I scare you?" She asked.

"Ms…Yui?" Satoshi asked, voicing everyone's confusing. Barely suppressing her own laughter, Ayumi went forward to greet their teacher. And all the tension on everyone's shoulders fell off as they realized they'd fallen for the Class Rep's most sophisticated prank yet. Satoshi just groaned as the two celebrated their success.

"I'd call that a rousing success!" Ayumi declared proudly.

"Aw, she got us." Mayu had been caught in it just as much as the others even though she'd helped out on some of the previous pranks.

"Why me?" Satoshi sighed, still flat on his back. Yuka was hovering over him, not sure if she should try to make him get up.

"Aw, cheer up. At least you were brave!" Miyu effortlessly grabbed his arms and pulled him back up.

"Maybe he was, but that was some scream!" Seiko grinned.

"I don't think any of the drama club could beat that." Mayu agreed, and Morishige nodded with her. Dejected, Satoshi brushed himself off and went back to stand next to Yoshiki with his sister.

"Honestly." Satoshi sighed in annoyance as the Class Rep kept gloating about her success. It had all been set up at the last minute but had gone off spectacularly, far beyond her expectations. His humiliation continued only till Ms. Yui noticed the classroom behind them all.

"Shinozaki, you said this room would be clean before you started your story, didn't you?" She questioned sternly. Ms. Yui was a fun teacher, but she didn't stay a teacher on good nature alone.

"Uh…" Ayumi had no defense for that. She really had said it'd be done by now, but they still had more than a few minutes' worth of work to do. Fortunately for her, their T.A didn't dwell on that fact.

"It's getting late." She decided. "You should all start heading home anyway and can come in and finish tomorrow morning."

"Okay, Ms. Yui." Ayumi agreed quickly. But at the mention of going home, a fact returned to their minds that they'd honestly forgotten in the fun time they'd had today: today was Mayu's last day at Kisaragi. Once they left it building, it would be the last they'd see of her for probably a while. The girl in question looked sadly at the ground.

"Suzumoto." Yui approached the brightest girl she'd ever known. "I know saying goodbye isn't easy, but don't be afraid. I just know you'll do good whenever you move to."

"Thank you…Ms. Yui." Mayu nodded. "I'm…glad to have had you my last year here…" Silence followed her words. No one really wanted to speak because it was still something they didn't want to accept. But it was happening, so they needed to at least say their goodbyes.

"It…was fun having you around Suzumoto." Satoshi finally broke the silence.

"Same." Yoshiki wasn't as elegant as words, but they could hear the meaning in his voice.

"We'll all try and visit once winter break comes around." Naomi tried to reassure her. "It's not goodbye forever.

"I'll always be watching you from above!" Seiko wailed dramatically, actually managing to bring the mood in the room up when Mayu giggled at the outburst.

"It won't be the same without you, especially the drama club." Miyu was a member as well, and went the hug the girl that had gotten her involved.

"I'll…miss you all so much!" Mayu was starting to get choked up.

"Hey," Morishige had been quiet up to that point, but spoke up when Mayu looked like she was about to start crying. "Who know you'll worry everyone even you don't smile. Let's remember this as a happy moment, hm?" He held up his phone, and Mayu quickly started drying her eyes.

"Yeah! I want a picture with all of you guys!"

"That's perfect!" Ayumi decided, and everyone else soon voiced their support for the idea. Morishige stood in the center of the room and instructed everyone to assemble in front of the teacher's podium. There were a few moments as he tried to ensure everyone, even Yuka, got into the shot.

"Eveyone say cheese."

"Cheese." It was Mayu that said it the loudest, and Morishige afterwards found himself swamped by the others pleading with him to send a copy of the picture to their own phones. And that seemed like that. The day was over, they'd said their goodbyes, and taken a momentum to their friendship.

But Ayumi had one last thing for them all.

"It's just something I found online." She told them, pulling a small paper doll out of her bag.

"That's the thing you were printing last night." Yoshiki noticed. "What is it?" Their Class Rep needed no encouragement to tell them.

"It's a friendship charm. Sachiko Ever After."

"A friendship charm?" Mayu's eyes lit up.

"How's it work?" Naomi asked. "And who's Sachiko?" Ayumi walked them through the instructions she'd read online.

"If we do the chant right and all rip off a peace, then we'll always be friends so long as we hold on to the scraps."

"What…happens if we mess up the chant?" Satoshi asked nervously.

"Oh, nothing bad I'm sure." Ayumi responded. "Do you all want to try it?"

"Yeah!" Mayu agreed immediately.

"I suppose." Morishige stepped up as well.

"Count us in!" Seiko dragged Naomi and Miyu forward into the group.

"Come on big brother!" Despite Satoshi's misgivings, he let his sister drag him into it. Since everyone else had already joined in, Yoshiki and Ms. Yui joined and made the circle ten people. Ayumi held the doll in front of her and everyone reached in to grab a hold of it, some having to snake their arms over or under the others.

"Okay everyone. Remember: 'Sachiko we beg of you.' Ten times, once for each person. Don't mess up!" She warned. "I'll start us off. Sachiko we beg of you." The others said it with her and all of them continued the chant afterwards.

"Sachiko we beg of you." On the tenth repetition, everyone pulled and the doll came apart in ten unequal parts. Everyone stepped back to look of their piece of the charm. Mayu held hers close to her chest and smiled warmly, more certain then she'd been before that she wouldn't be separated from her friends.

"Alright everyone, it's getting late." As touching as the last half-hour had been, they were running into possible trouble with the school's higher staff if they stayed much longer. Not to mention how dangerous it would be getting home already.

"I guess it is…" Ayumi sighed. "Suzumoto-" She paused. Everyone paused. The room had suddenly become deafly quiet. The pattering of the rain outside, the occasional distant thunder, everything outside the room seemed to have stopped. But before anyone could ponder that, the floor beneath them started to shake.

"An earthquake?!" Ms. Yui wondered. They weren't uncommon around this area. Several of her students screamed in terror as the shaking got worse, and one of the light fictures plummeted from the roof, nearly squashing Suzumoto. "Everyone under the desks till it passes! Quickly!" She ordered, gripping the teacher's podium just to keep upright.

No one got to the desks. Most of them were had either fallen down, were trying to help each other up, and putting all their effort into just staying upright. It didn't matter anyway. A terrible cracking sound drew everyone's eyes to the classroom floor that was breaking apart in front of them, sending desks plummeting to the level below.

All ten of them stumbled back, hardly able to believe what they were seeing. But they soon ran out of space and everyone had their backs against the chalkboard, grabbing onto it and each other in some vain hope it would keep them from falling as the fissure got closer.

Their panicked shouting and screaming was just barely audible over the sound of chaos before the entire floor of the classroom was swallowed up, leaving nothing beneath them but an unnatural black void. "Shig-nii!" Mayu had been on the very end of the line and fell first, holding on Morishige for dear life. His grip on the chalkboard proved too weak and, despite Yoshiki's attempt to grab his arm, both students fell.

Between the shaking and lack of anything beneath their feet, none of them could manage to hold on. The rest of them fell, still screaming, into the darkness below.


	5. Chapter 5

There were several moments of confusion when Satoshi woke up, the last few minutes of his memory blanked out by his groggy state. But they soon came back to him: the earthquake, the classroom falling apart, and then he was falling and holding onto Yuka.

Yuka!

"Yuka!" Satoshi shouted. Where was his sister? Where was _he_? Twisting around desperately to catch a glimpse of his sister, he realized in was in a dark classroom. A wooden classroom that was badly decayed. But their school wasn't made of wood… Satoshi broke out in a cold sweat when he realized it. This wasn't Kisaragi Academy!

"Yuka! Naomi! Yoshiki!" Satoshi stumbled around the dark room, shouting for his sibling and friends. He had no idea where they were or how they got there, but to him that took a lower priority than finding his sister and friends right now.

"Yuka! Nao- ahh!" In his frantic pacing, Satoshi hadn't noticed something on the floor and tripped, sending himself crashing to the floor. He sat back up and briefly scrambled back when the mass he tripped on started moving. And then he realized who he'd tripped over.

"Morishige!" Satoshi's dark haired classmate sat up and immediately put a hand to his face. In the dim light, it took Satoshi a moment to realize Morishige was missing his glasses.

"Mochida?" Morishige turned towards him, apparently squinting. "Where are my glasses? And what just happened? Was there an earthquake?" As unnatural as the occurrence was, it wasn't surprising Morishige questioned if it had actually just happened.

"I'll find them for you." Satoshi volunteered, groping around in the dark near where Morishige's head had landed. "I don't know what happened." His fingers closes around an object he assumed her the glasses. "But we're not in Kisaragi Academy anymore and I can't find the others. Here." He handed them over.

"Not in Kisaragi?" Morishige repeated with some understandable skepticism as he put his glasses back on. Some measure of his vision coming back to him, he looked around the dark room and quickly realized Satoshi was right. "And you can't find the others?" He asked after a moment, a slight edge in his voice.

"No." Satoshi shook his head. He had to back step when Morishige briskly rose from the floor and started walking around the room slightly rushed pace.

"Mayu?" He called. "Mayu!"

Reassured by the presence of at least another person, Satoshi took another chance to look around. The state of the school was still the main thing he noticed. Wooden, and obviously abandoned. In the city, space was a rare commodity, so old and unused buildings were rarely left standing for long. So were they away from the city? How the hell could that happen? There were windows, so he could see it was still dark outside. How long had they been out?

The dark classroom was suddenly filled with grimy light when a overheard lightbulb inexplicably came to life. "Whoa!" It made Satoshi jump.

"I can't imagine a place like this still being hooked into the city power grid. Just where is it?" Morishige wondered out loud. "And where is Mayu?"

"I don't know." Satoshi shook his head, his fearful worry for his sister and other friends coming back full force. "I guess we still need to look- Morishige!" Satoshi pointed to the front of the classroom, a spot neither boy had ventured so far. Up there was the chalkboard and a rotting podium. And behind that was a body wearing the blue skirt that was the Kisaragi High female uniform, although the podium obscured the head so they couldn't tell who it was.

"Hey!" Satoshi started running to the front of the room, but stopped short when the light allowed him to see something else new: a gaping hole in the floor that separated the top part of the room for the rest, leading into a pitch black void he could've fallen into. "Aaahh." Feeling dizzy, Satoshi took a few steps back.

"We need to find a way to get up there." Morishige stated. The two looked around, and spotted a doorway at the back of the classroom into what should've been a hallway and headed for it, only to stop as soon as they got outside. It was a hallway, but it was far darker then the classroom had been even before the light came on.

"It's dark." Satoshi took a step back.

"There's a door at the front of the room." Morishige stepped passed him. "Just follow the wall." And he did just that, disappearing into the dark hallway despite the sound of his hand tracing the wall giving a good idea where he was.

Satoshi followed after him nervously. Despite the light being on in the classroom, not one bit of it came through the open doorway into the hallway. Both boys found the other doorway into the classroom by stumbling into it. But they'd reached where they wanted.

"It's Seiko." Satoshi realized. Even from the doorway they could recognize their female classmate's trademark hair style.

"Hmm." Morishige acknowledged. "I'll keep looking in the hallway." He turned and walked back into the darkness while Satoshi went forward to wake her. She didn't look hurt in anyway, just asleep.

"Shinohara." Satoshi shook her shoulder. "Shinohara!" She groaned and rolled onto her back before opening her eyes.

"Hmm? Mochida?" She asked.

"Shinohara, you need to get up!" Satoshi urged. His tone prompted her to sit up and look around.

"W-where the hell are we?" She asked, absolutely no trace of energy in her voice. It was almost as unnatural as their situation. "How'd we get here? And where's Naomi?!" Wide eyed, Seiko patted herself down to make sure she still had her underwear on. Everything checked out, but it barely negated the creepiness factor.

"Don't know." Satoshi answered. "But it definitely isn't our school and I can't imagine a place like this in the city." He held out a hand to help her up. "I found Morishige, but no one else." After he helped her up Seiko glanced around the classroom.

"Naomi!" Just like Satoshi and Morishige, her first reaction was to call for her friend. "Naomi!" And just like them she got no response. "What the hell is going on here?!" She demanded. She went over to the window and tried to yank it open. The window didn't budge, or even give a view to the outside now that Satoshi observed them further; it appeared as if the panes had been painted black. When that didn't work, she tried to smash it open with a piece of debris, but it simply bounced off the surface.

"Shinohara!" Satoshi had never seen the girl as frantic as now. "I'm sure everyone is close by." He tried to calm her down. "If we look around-"

"There's no point." Morishige came back in just then, holding his phone in front of him as a light source. "The hallway is collapsed in both directions, so we can't search the rest of the building. Cell phone service doesn't reach here either. If the windows don't open, we're trapped." He admitted.

"Then what are we going to do?" Seiko asked. "I need to get home! And Naomi might be hurt, Mochida!"

"I- I don't know." Satoshi hesitated. In the hallway was a bust and the windows wouldn't open… Where would they go? Where were they? What had happened? What _would_ happen? All three friends stared at each other, none able to answer, and fear rising in their chests.

X

They weren't the only ones to find themselves in a unfamiliar classroom, although maybe they were the most fortunate. Mayu hadn't woken up alone; Shinozaki and she had ended up landing side by side. But Ayumi had woken up first and, after finding herself in an unfamiliar place next to an unresponsive friend, started to panic. The very first thing Mayu had seen upon wakening had been their Class Rep backed against a desk coughing, wheezing, and about to pass out.

Mayu didn't know how to handle situations like this. Her first instinct had been to hug her friend and hope she calmed down, but she quickly realized it wasn't good for Ayumi's shortness of breath. So she'd backed off a bit and had spent the next several minutes talking and trying to calm her friend down.

"Shinozaki…" Mayu was trying to keep herself together as well. Seeing her friend in distress and not being able to do anything about it was threatening to upset her. What kept her from breaking down was the knowledge no one would be there to help her or the Class Rep if she did.

Mayu hadn't paid too much attention to their surroundings yet, but it was obvious they weren't in Kisaragi anymore. She couldn't find Shig-nii or any of her friends either. She'd called for them, but hadn't gotten a response. She desperately wanted to go find them, but she couldn't just leave her friend here.

"Suzu- Suzumot-" Ayumi had stopped coughing and gasping, but was still very short of breath. "Suzumoto, where are we?" She finally gasped out. "Where is everybody?"

"I don't know." Mayu admitted. "But we're the only one's here…"

"No…No…" Ayumi moaned in dismay and shut her eyes tightly. "This can't be happening…" Mayu bit her lip nervously as her friend looked close to falling back into convulsions.

"I'm sure everyone's fine." Mayu tried to reassure her. "We're okay, aren't we?" Her words seemed to slightly reassure the girl in front on her.

"We- we need to find them. We need to make sure they're okay!" Ayumi pushed herself up. Both rising for the first time, the girls got their first good view of the surroundings: old, dark, and dirty, but familiar.

"It's a school." Mayu realized. She looked at the desks, unusually tiny desks at that. "It looks like an elementary school."

"NO!" Mayu jumped in terror when Ayumi screamed right next to her. "No, no, no, no, no!" She fell back onto the floor shook her head viciously all while repeating the word continuously. Soon enough she fell into the same coughing fit as when Mayu had first waken up.

"Shinozaki?!" Mayu wasn't sure what had triggered it, but the class rep was in a full panic again. By the looks of it, even worse than last time. There was no way they'd be able to move like this or find anything out. _Shig-nii…everyone… please be safe and please find us_.

X

"Ah, what the hell?" Yoshiki grunted when he woke up and soreness was the first thing he felt. "Was that an earthquake?" He wondered as he rolled onto his front and propped himself up with his arms. "Oi! Guys, you there?" He asked as he stood up in the darkness.

"Kishinuma?" A voice responded.

"Nakashima?" Yoshiki heard her, but he couldn't see her yet. "Where are you?"

"I- I don't know. But my leg hurts and I can't stand up." She gasped in exasperation, and Yoshiki heard a scraping sound like desks moving somewhere to his left.

"Just hold on, I'll find you." Yoshiki felt around in the darkness, wishing he'd had the mind to bring his lighter with him. True, he didn't smoke anymore, but he'd still kept it on him till just recently. In hindsight, probably a bad move.

"Seiko? Seiko are you there?" Naomi was calling. "Kishinuma, can you see the others?"

"No." He called back. The building must've collapsed and they fell onto the first floor, which was the only reasonable explanation Yoshiki could think of. If that was the case, then the others could be under rubble…

Before the horrifying thought could visualize itself in his mind, the light above came to live, giving him vision and disproving his assumption in the worst way possible. "What the hell?!" He stopped and twisted around. "Where the hell are we?!" They weren't in Kisaragi Academy. They didn't even look to be in the right century, if the style of the building was any indication.

"Huh? W-Where is this?" Naomi asked. Despite the pain in her leg, she used a desk to pull herself up just a couple feet away from Kishinuma.

"I have no idea." Yoshiki shook his head. "Damnit." He looked around the room, filled with nothing but trash and rotting wood. He couldn't see anyone else.

"Do you think the rest of our friends are here?" Naomi asked.

"I hope so, since we're still alive. If they are, we should probably try and find them first." He suggested. This place did not look safe at all. And honestly he didn't even want to begin to try and figure out what was going on. Maybe the others would already have it figured out by the time they found them. "Can you move?"

"I think so. It feels like just a sprain." Naomi winced as she tested her foot, but found it able to support her weight with just a small limp. "Come on." She motioned to the door. "We need to find Seiko and the others."

"Yeah, let's go."

X

"Shh, it's alright." Miyu murmured, rubbing Yuka's back. Miyu was sitting cross legged on the floor. The younger girl was sitting in her lap and holding tightly onto Miyu's blouse as she sobbed into it. "Everything will be alright."

Miyu had woken up only a few minutes ago, dazed and not remembering what had happened. But as soon as her senses came back she'd heard the sound of crying, and had quickly sat up to find herself in a dark, unfamiliar and derelict classroom, laying behind some desks. And just on the other side of the room she'd seen Yuka balled up in the corner crying her eyes out.

The younger teen had woken up a few minutes earlier, confused as any of them had been, and had not gotten a response when she called out for her brother. Being alone was not something Yuka had ever gone through, and on top of being alone and in a scary place it wasn't surprising she'd broken down. She'd ran over and clanged to the other girl as soon as she saw her, despite the fact she hadn't known her for very long, and that's how the two were in their current position.

"We'll be fine." Miyu insisted as her companion's sobs seemed to finally get quieter. Truthfully, she wasn't sure about that. She had no idea how they'd gotten into what was clearly an abandoned building, where it was, or what had happened to everyone else. She was terrified. But she knew she had to keep her head for the sake of the girl holding onto her, and keep her safe.

"W-where's my big brother?" Yuka sniffed.

"I don't know…" Miyu admitted, wishing Satoshi was here herself. She just knew he'd have something reassuring to say. "But I'm sure he's okay."

"Where are we?" Yuka sat back and looked around at the classroom they were in. "Is this our school?"

"I don't think so." Miyu sighed. "But don't worry!" She added quickly. "Everything will be alright in the end."

"Are you sure?" Yuka asked.

"Positive." The older girl smiled warmly, and finally succeeded in calming the younger one down.

"O-okay." Now blushing in embarrassment at her initial reaction, Yuka stood up. "Sorry about your blouse." She apologized.

"It's okay." Miyu assured her as she stood up. Even if it had soaked through and felt heavy in the cold, it was understandable. Yuka looked apprehensively around the room and then the doorways. Even if it obviously scared her, she wanted to know more about where they were.

"Should we go look for my big brother?" She asked.

"I think we should stay here." Miyu shook her head. "Everyone is probably searching for us right now, and we might miss them if we're moving around. We don't want to get lost either and we know this room is safe. Let's just stay here for a little while, ok?"

Yuka looked again at the doorway. She was so scared and worried, but she really wanted to find Satoshi. She did feel safe here though, and she was kind of tired. "Ok." Yuka agreed. "Yuka wants to stay here." Miyu nodded approvingly.

"Don't worry." She repeated. "Everything will be fine."

X

Ms. Yui had woken up alone, unlike the rest of her students. But she shared their confusion in waking up in an unrecognizable place. "What?" She asked groggily as she sat up, her mind taking a few moments to correct itself.

"My students!" The important matters came back quickly. There'd been the earthquake. She had to make sure everyone was safe! But when she did get her bearings, she discovered that not only was she alone, but had woken up in the dark hallway of some abandoned building.

"How…? She spun around. It seemed like an unnaturally long hallway as well, with only a few dark windows and no doors she could find in either direction, both of which ended in darkness. It was honestly intimidating, and she felt her feet freeze into the ground.

"No." She shook her head. She had no idea what was happening, why it was happening, or how it was happening. But whatever it was had affected her students too. She was the adult here. They were her responsibility and this place, wherever it was, looked dangerous. She had to make sure everyone was okay first and foremost.

"Everyone hold on, I find all of you." Still unsteady but determined, she set off down the hallway.

XX A/N XX

And there's the major divergence this story has, although I did decide to keep Yuka and Miyu together like in Musume since they never actually explored the school together. Different personalities and strengths will work together differently. Will it help some survive? Or just kill them quicker? Also, since the setting has moved, this is getting bumped up to the M rating and chapters won't be fragmented anymore since they will focus on one group.


	6. Chapter 6

XX Author's Note XX

Before we got on, I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies in the school lay out. I've consulted maps from all four games to make the most accurate one I can. That said, the school mixes up so much, I'll try and not let my readers get lost. If people preferred, I could start each scene listing where they are.

X

 _Trapped_. The world repeated itself in their minds, making their chests feel heavy. _Trapped_. Where? By who? For what reason?

"T-that can't be right." Satoshi stuttered, cancelling the crushing silence that had settled upon them. He wanted to say something, something that would help. "We got here, so there must be somewhere to go." He tried to reason. "Shinohara, are you sure the windows won't move?" She nodded and frantically spoke.

"We gotta do something…I got three siblings at home waiting for me!" Vanishing like this…she couldn't put her siblings through that fear. Seiko had to get back. They'd never be the same if another member of the family went and disappeared…just like their mom had.

Morishige had his back turned to both of them while he tried to accept what was happening. He was a calm person, usually detached from the world around him that likewise had nothing particularly interesting to him. Unlike the others though, he felt offense, rather than fear, at whoever had done this to them. It easily turned to anger when he thought of them doing the same to Mayu. He had to find her, quickly.

Seiko resorted to nervous pacing, and as she did so her eyes caught a paper posted on one of the walls with some faded writing on it. When she did, her eyes widened and her breath became quick. "Guys…" She stepped away from the paper.

"Hmm? What is it?" Morishige walked over to read it. "'Notice to all Heavenly Host All Students and…Staff…" Morishige trailed off when he realized what he'd just read.

"That was the place in Shinozaki's story!" Seiko remembered. "The one that got torn down because all those people died…"

"But it was just a story." Satoshi tried to reason. "We can't be in a elementary school that was torn down before any of us were born!"

"It is…" The three froze in terror as a new voice interjected. "Indeed Heavenly Host you are trapped in." They looked behind them and jumped back at what they saw: a blue figure. Or a blue mist in a vaguely human shape, none of them stood still long enough to get a good look as they backed away from the strange being.

But it did not move. It just remained where it had appeared in a slouched over position. "Is that a…ghost?" Seiko asked. Satoshi was too frightened to respond and Morishige seemed stunned. It was the mist that responded.

"I am…the spirit of someone who perished in this place, just as you inevitably will…" Hearing its voice again, they realized it was of someone unexpectedly young, possibly around their age. But at the same time, they seemed tired and in pain.

Questions swirled in their minds as they struggled to make sense of what was in front of them and what it - he? – had said. But this was not an illusion or something one of them was imagining. It was very much real.

"Who are you?" Satoshi asked. The spirit was quiet for some time, its foggy form seeming to dim.

"I am someone who perished here." It repeated. "Just as you will."

"And where is 'here'?" Morishge demanded.

"Yeah, Heavenly Host was torn down. So how can we be here?" Seiko asked.

"This place is a nexus of closed spaces, brought in to existence by vengeful spirits." The ghost explained. "You are just some of the recent victims they've pulled in. So many are wandering the halls right now…" The voice sounded pained.

"There are other people here? Where are they?" Morishige was a blunt person even to the living, a fact which earned him a somewhat unpleasant reputation. To this passed person in front of them, he was no different.

"I do not know." He blue haze moved as if shaking its head. "There were other people who showed up in this school when you did. But you will not be able to find them. They likely occupy a different space then you." So many questions still, and this spirit only seemed to be repeating the same warnings.

"Why are telling us this?" Seiko asked, still distressed. "If we can't get home…why rub it in?" In any normal situation, Seiko would be the defiantly happy one insisting anything was possible. With the grim evidence in front of them, even she couldn't be that defiant.

The spirit did not reply and, after a moment, the mist faded from in front of them and it was just them in the room. The encounter had barely lasted a few minutes.

"Did…that really just happen?" Satoshi asked. "Was someone just speaking to us?" Ghosts weren't real, but that thing had fit all the makings of a ghost.

"Whatever it was, it sounded more like it was taunting us." Morishige glared in annoyance at the spot the spirit had occupied.

"He said everyone else was here though- Naomi, Suzumoto, and little Yuka!" Seiko had gotten some good news and was holding stubbornly onto it. "That means we can find them! Or they can find us."

"Didn't he say we couldn't meet them though?" Satoshi reminded them. "He said something about… closed spaces?"

"Whether or not any of that is true doesn't matter." Morishige huffed. "We can't get out of this room."

"At least we know we're not by our own here." Satoshi offered to raise their morale. He got a reluctant nod from his agitated friend and Seiko definitely approved of his words. That positive note didn't last long though, as the floor beneath their feet started to shake. Within seconds it was the whole building and the dim light that had illuminated the room went out.

"Another earthquake?!" Seiko screamed and lost her balance. All three of were on the floor soon after. It was several terrifying moments for them laying there, expecting the force to bring the rotting wood building down on their heads. But it didn't. The desks trembled and moved slightly but the floor and roof did not break or crumble in the slightest. And then it was over and the light came back. The three shakily rose.

"That was just like in our classroom…" Satoshi remembered. "But we're still here."

"Whew." Seiko sighed in relief. "I thought this place was going to fall on us."

"By all means, it should've." Morishige's glasses had fallen a few feet from him, and he was just putting them back on. "If that spirit was any indication though, this school must not be normal."

"Are we even still in Japan?" Satoshi wondered.

"Hey, why don't we worry about that later?" Seiko suggested. "We should look around. Maybe we can find a way to get over the gap?"

"It was only a few feet." Morishige admitted. "And I agree that we should start looking. Mochida?" The two turned to their last classmate.

"Yeah." Satoshi agreed. "If we can find a way, I'll go with it. I really need to find Yuka, and we might find out more about… this place." The poster and spirit had said it was Heavenly Host, but Satoshi was unable to call it that for the time being; he was still jittery about the whole thing.

The three lightly stepped into the hallway. It was still dark, cold, and musty, but did not seem as dark as the first time the boys had stepped in it. It also looked bigger and wider than any normal school would build. But caught their attention very quickly was the fact the hallway floor was not, as Morishige had claimed, un-navigable.

"Morishige, didn't you say the floor was caved in?" Satoshi asked.

"I did." His classmate responded, looking around with surprise and suspicion. "This floor was definitely broken." Morishige stated. The others didn't doubt him, so what did that mean? Had the floor repaired itself? It wouldn't be the weirdest thing to happen all day.

"Well…it's fixed now, so we can go look for the others!" Seiko reminded him.

"Hmm. I suppose." Morishige still cast the hall a distrusting look. The new lighting gave them a chance to look around. The windows were still pitch black though.

"Classroom 6-A." Satoshi read the faded script engraved on the wooden marker outside. "6-A. We should remember that if we get split up."

"6-A." Seiko repeated. "Got it!" Morishige nodded in confirmation. Splitting up didn't seem to be immediately necessary though. The hallway had only restored itself in one direction, leaving them only one option. And almost immediately they were confronted with something slightly disturbing.

"Shoes." Seiko stopped when she spotted them. Just a few steps had taken them to a junction that branched out into two different wings or went straight ahead. Shoes littered the junction and the hallway leading straight ahead. "Tiny shoes…" She realized.

"Because it's an elementary school…are they the student's?" Satoshi suggested.

"Does that mean there are children here?" Seiko asked, taking a fearful step back. "That thing said there were a lot of other people here too!"

"I'm sure it'll be okay." Satoshi assured, although he had no way of knowing. Despite the grim implications, they went straight ahead, stepping over the various pairs of shoes scattered there. The anxiety was worth it for the discovery.

"Is that an exit?" Seiko spoke when they stepped into the room and discovered it was the school's entranceway. The room was wide and filled with cubbies for students to store their items in. They found no other signs of children, fortunately. And on the other side of the room was a door, no doubt the entrance.

She ran forward to the doors and grabbed the handles to pull them open. She gave both a great tug, and nothing happened. "Huh?" Seiko put all her strength into one door. "Hnng." She pulled.

"Is it jammed?" Satoshi asked. He walked up to grab the handle and both pulled. It still did not budge. Upon further inspection, it didn't even budge or shake in its frame. It was if they were pulling on a wall.

"It's just like the windows…" Seiko admitted defeat. Satoshi gave up too. The windows weren't offering them any escape, and neither were the doors.

"Can't get out through here." Satoshi closed his eyes and hung his head. Had that ghost been right? Was there no way to escape from this school? No, they couldn't accept that yet, not when they had only seen part of the school.

"Let's keep looking." Morishige said and quickly went back the way they'd came. The other two fell in behind them.

They got back to the junction and went right, which, in an example of bizarre architecture, ended at a wall without doors of any kind, a literal dead end. The other led them to a stairwell, and that led them to a gruesome discovery.

"Ahh!"

"Eek!"

Satoshi and Seiko both screamed and stumbled back, almost tumbling back down the stairs. Morishige had frozen mid-step, eyes locked on what had spooked them: a corpse. "Oh god…" Seiko turned away, not willing to look at it.

"Is that…is that real?" Satoshi choked out, cautiously looking at it. Morishige was still the closest, and he was the one who took the extra step forward to check. It was definitely a body, more a skeleton at this point despite the bits of rotten flesh still clinging to the bones, huddled in the corner. It still had traces of a female school uniform on it.

"It's real…" Morishige breathed, not quite believing it. His diagnosis convinced the others to come closer, although Seiko still kept her distance. The ghosts earlier warnings repeated in their heads just then: ' _who perished here. Just as you will.'_ There was no doubt to them now: this place, wherever it truly was, wasn't only strange, but extremely dangerous.

"What…what killed her?" Seiko wondered.

"No idea." Satoshi shook his head. None of them were forensic experts, but it was clear it hadn't been of nature causes; the figures hands still covered its face, suggesting the girl had spent her last moments trying to defend herself.

"This is bad." Seiko went on, her voice rising a few pitches. "What if whatever killed her gets to us? Or Naomi?"

"Mayu…" Morishige spoke his friend's name. Satoshi's mind immediately went to Yuka, and his chest tightened in fear. He couldn't let anything bad happen to her. He wouldn't.

"We have to find the others." Satoshi said in determination. "We can't leave here without finding them. This place is too dangerous for that."

"Of course it is." Morishige snapped, still on edge from his earlier thoughts. "So let's go." He turned from the sight in front of them to continue after the stairs, only to be distracted with the others when a light glow illuminated the small landing.

It was another blue mist, just like the one they'd seen before. But this one went beyond just appearing as a blue haze. It took on the unmistakable shape of a teenage girl, with a soft face and dark hair. Her features were all discernable.

"You are… lost as… well?" The figure spoke, a soft feminine voice this time, but constrained and almost wheezing. Combined with the body, no doubt was left in their mind the authenticity of the last blue mist and this one. There really were ghosts here, ghosts that could talk to them. Ghosts of people who had _died_ in this place.

"Yes…" Satoshi nodded. It felt so unusual, but this had clearly been a person, so some of Satoshi's natural hospitality came out despite the setting. "Sorry, but can you help us? We're still confused about what is going on." Despite its ethereal appearance, the ghost managed a sad expression.

"I do not know much about this place- I did not live long after arriving."

"Sorry…to hear that." Satoshi said uneasily.

"Have you seen anyone else pass by here?" Morishige cut in. "Wearing a uniform like that?" He motioned to Seiko.

"No. I have not." The ghostly figure shook its head. Morishige huffed in agitation. "If you want to get out of here, you should heed the warning given by those who've fallen in these halls." The ghost turned back to Satoshi. "You may protect yourself from similar fates." The three Kisaragi students nodded.

"There are… many dangers… that…" While the spirit's speech had been clearly pressed before, it was starting to show more and more as it spoke. "Roam these…halls…uughh."

"Are you okay?" Seiko asked.

"Can't…breathe…." With those strangled words, the blue mist suddenly evaporated, leaving only silence and the body behind. Its disappearance left them even more stunned than the first time.

"W-what happened to her?" Seiko wondered.

"Can spirits...die again?" Satoshi asked uncertainly. It look all the world like she'd collapsed in agony, despite already being dead. That what they was experiencing was real was already taking time to sink in, but for it to go against what they'd always believed about spirits and the afterlife wasn't helping them adapt.

"We should keep moving." Morishige broke the silence. The others slowly nodded agreement and continued up the staircase. The departed's warning about danger went tactfully unmentioned.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, they found themselves staring down a hallway so long, they couldn't even see the end, just a darkness. Several rooms were on the left side of the hallway, presumably more classrooms. An odd silence had fallen on the trio has they went about exploring them.

The doors for the first classroom were locked. The second classroom- 1B – was unlocked but contained nothing notable or of interest, so they continued on. Classroom 1-A, the third and final one, did hold something.

"Another body…" Satoshi warned. There was no outward expression of fear or confusion at the concept of death this time, although inwardly the sight made them want to turn away. But after the last two encounters, expectation overrode mortal fear.

"Hello?" Satoshi whispered as they approached. No strange blue mist appeared to greet them this time though. The room remained silent and the corpse remained rotting where it was. They stopped a few feet away, unwilling to go closer. The cold seemed have masked whatever stench the skeleton before had, but it did nothing to disguise the putrid odor from the bloated mass in a male school uniform before them. When nothing happened, they all backed away and out of the room, lingering at the door for a few moments.

"I guess they don't all want to talk." Morishige observed.

"You know…" Seiko frowned. "This is supposed to be an elementary school…so why are there only teenagers here?"

"The first spirit talked about vengeful spirits pulling people in…didn't he?" Satoshi remembered then shook his head. "But why would they be mad at us? What have we done?"

"Hmm." Morishige was glancing back into the classroom at the direction of the corpse when something caught his eye; a perfectly normal but tattered newspaper laying on one of the desk. Newspapers were a source of information, including a date. He ventured into the classroom once more to retrieve it. He held it up to read it as he walked and stopped mid-step.

"What is it?" Satoshi asked.

"This paper…" Morishige squinted. "The date is from…1973?"

"That's..." Satoshi did the math in his head. "Thirty-five years ago. That's when the old school was torn down, wasn't it?" The history of the school hadn't been all that interesting to the students of Kisaragi Academy, and they hadn't taken any of Shinozaki's ghost stories as fact.

"So…we went back in time?" Seiko guessed. While terrifying in its own right, the theory would have been preferred to accepting they weren't even in Japan anymore.

"Maybe…" Satoshi wasn't sure, since it didn't explain the spirits they'd encountered or how solid the exit was. "What else does it say?" He turned back to Morishige. The dark haired boy shook his head and handed it over. The date was only faintly visible because of its large print, but the rest of the text had faded so most words were gone and the remaining lost without context. The paper only served to increase their fears rather than inform them.

"Maybe we'll find more if we keep looking." Satoshi tried to keep them going. "Something that will tell us a little more."

"Right!" Seiko agreed. Morishige had drifted into deep thought but came back to agree. "Let's keep going then!"

The hallway split into two directions up ahead. One went right down another hallway, and the other was a set of ascending stairs. A faint glow could be seen from there. "Another spirit?" Satoshi guessed. There was something unusual about the glow, and it was once they stepped into the stairwell that they realized why.

There was yet another misty humanoid figure, standing on the first landing amongst a messy collection of old desks and chairs. It was more defined then their first encounter, but not so much as their last. But what stood out most of all was its color: this haze was an orange or reddish color instead of blue. It was the only difference, but inexplicably caused a slight sense of unease in them as they watched it.

"Excuse me?" Seiko spoke up, you're a spirit here too, right? We're looking for-" She took one step forward onto the steps, and the mist responded immediately with one sharp movement that sent one of the desks tumbling down the wooden boards and straight at Seiko. She barely got out of the way of the heavy object as it crashed into several pieces in front of them.

"Wh-wh-wh-" Seiko's confused babbling for interrupted but a low growl in their ears. It didn't seem to come from any one direction, but fill the entire air around them. It seem to reach all the way to their stomachs, giving them goosebumps and standing their hair on end. "Let's get the heck out of here!" The others whole heartedly agreed, and the three fled the terrifying spirit, down the hallway and past two other classrooms they had no intention of checking. They're dead sprint didn't stop till they were at the other end, in a similar junction as the first.

"Shinohara, are you okay?" Satoshi asked as they stood there panting.

"Yeah." The other girl panted. "It attacked me!"

"I saw." Satoshi nodded. "But why would it?" They hadn't done anything to their knowledge to upset them.

"I'm wondering how it moved the desk." Morishige crossed his arms. This entire business was unusual, but not physically dangerous until just then. It made him more uneasy then he was letting on- Mayu was a small and frail girl. "They don't look like they have a physical…" Morishige was glancing behind him while he talked and suddenly let out a uncharacteristic gasp that was the closest to fear he'd shown so far.

"What?" Satoshi looked too. "Ahh!" His reaction wasn't as controlled. The red figure who'd dropped the desk at Seiko had moved down from the staircase and was now standing at the other end of the hallway, clearing watching them. It was an all-new kind of terror to what they'd been feeling: the fear of being hunted.

"Let's get away from here!" Seiko said quickly, and the three fled down the next length of hallway at a sprint and didn't stop till they were around another bend.

"Are you guys…okay?" Satoshi panted.

"Is it still following us?" Seiko asked.

'No." Morishige was looking around the corner. "That…thing isn't." He turned around and after a moment to adjust his glasses that had come loose during the run, he said in a much more controlled voice, "We should probably avoid going back there for the time being."

"No kidding." Seiko leaned back against the wall. "Why did it attack me? I didn't do anything, did I?"

"I don't think so…" Thinking back to the encounter, Satoshi couldn't think of anything offensive any of them might've done. "That noise… you guys heard it too?" They both nodded. "It sounded angry."

"Being dead might do that to a person." Morishige deadpanned, making his companions uncomfortable. "Whatever their problem, it isn't an issue to us. We should keep looking. If there are more spirits like that, than Mayu is probably in danger."

"Yeah, and the others too." Seiko agreed.

"We passed a door." Morishige pointed around the bend. "We need to check everywhere."

"Oh…right." Satoshi answered after a moment, conscious that doing so would get them a slight distance closer to the angry spirit. Fortunately, and door was right around the bend and far from the end of the hall. The sign above the closed doors proclaimed it the Science Lab.

"Locked?" Upon trying to knob, it refused to budge. We he tried pushing, it was the same sensation as back at the entrance: like pushing against a solid brick wall. "No good." Satoshi shook his head. The Science Lab remained firmly shut.

"We better keep looking." Seiko said quickly, still glancing down the hallway. The figure was not down there. For all they knew it had retreated back to the stair landing. They didn't want to check and see though. Further down the hallway they found another door. The sign above read 'infirmary'.

Unlike the science lab, the infirmary was unlocked. And unlike the rest of the school, it seemed relatively sturdy. The floor was mostly whole, two surprisingly clean beds were in one corner, and an old but standing desk sat against the wall. A cabinet on the far side of the room was clearly still full of bottles and medicine. Other supplies was visible behind the dirty windows of another cabinet. Even if it was all probably too old to use now, it was still surprising such potentially dangerous things would be left.

"Look!" Seiko pointed to the corner of the infirmary. "Isn't that one of Shinozaki's candles?" The boys followed her hand and noticed the faintly glowing candlestick stuck on the floor, only barely illuminating its surroundings. The three crowded around the tiny flame, surprised by how warm it actually seemed.

"Looks like one of hers." Satoshi nodded. Candles were something else the Class Rep of 2-9 was known for, specifically her ability to pull them and matches from seemingly nowhere. Even though none of them had their school bags with them, there was no doubt Shinozaki would've had candles. "She must've come by here… Maybe Yuka's with her."

"Or Naomi."

"Hopefully she's with Mayu.' His classmates agreed there hopes with him. "We should go look nearby." The evidence in front of them, they exited the infirmary and continued down the hallway, calling out their Class Rep's name in hope of locating her.

But their efforts proved fruitless. They found no sign of their Class Rep in the hallway, which ended inexplicably further down, and no other rooms sat along the winding passage. "There was a staircase back there." Seiko remembered. "They could be up there."

The group turned and headed that way, found the stair case and ascended it to what logically should've also be the 3rd floor. But it only proved to be a small hallway containing a lavatory for each gender. Seiko checked the girls and the others the boys, but both were empty. As the three stood in the hallway and thought back their steps, they realized they'd taken every possible and safe route from where they'd started, which meant…

"End of the line…" Satoshi realized. What had kept them hopeful and distracted from worry was that new sense of freedom when they discovered they could move. Now that they'd seen the bounds of that with little to show, it was worry that came back to them. Action had kept shock from settling in, no longer was it so.

"It isn't really!" Seiko tried to reason. "Shinozaki's candle, remember? So we know she's somewhere here! Maybe we just passed her, right?" She looked at Satoshi.

"Yeah…maybe." He agreed after a moment.

"Right?" Seiko turned to Morishige and quickly realized the boy was not focused on them, but something on this phone.

"Huh?" He looked up when he felt their eyes upon him. "I'm going to keep looking." He decided.

"If we keep looking, we're sure to find the others!" Seiko was clearly trying to keep their spirits optimistic.

"Yeah…we should Satoshi agreed. Inside, he was well aware that it was bound to be a fruitless venture: they'd explored everywhere open to them already. But he couldn't just stop and do nothing when he knew Yuka and Naomi were here too. He knew they wouldn't fare well if they were trapped here for too long- he had to find them. And if the others were intent on it, Satoshi wasn't going to argue with them.

This school was dangerous, and it was undeniable that it would be extremely difficult to find their classmates and teacher. But they cared too much for the others to just stop. Even if it would be difficult, even if their spirits were low, even if it would put them in danger, they'd find the others and get out. They wouldn't accept anything else.

Somehow much more confident they they'd been just moments go, the three turned and headed back to the stairs. Their friends were waiting for them.

XX A/N XX

The first parts of the chapters when everyone's learning the same thing are kinda slow, aren't they? Sorry that took so long; I have a hard time writing horror and hopelessness during the holidays. Plus I was waiting for the site's review feature to start working again.


	7. Chapter 7

XX Author's Note XX

1000 views already? You are all too kind. Although with the Spring Semester starting, updates may be slower.

X

It was several minutes before Ayumi finally calmed down. By that point her face had gone from red to slightly blue from the lack of air, making it uncertain whether her mind had recovered or her body had lost its ability to portray her anxiety. Mayu was just relieved she'd stopped convulsing. Ayumi had gone limp is her friend's arms, just breathing in and out with unfocused eyes.

"Shinozaki?" Mayu murmured. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm okay…" Ayumi answered weakly. Mayu let go as the Class Rep sat up on her knees and then unsteadily pulled herself up using a desk. Mayu stood up behind her in case the shorter girl fell back. But fortunately, she seemed to have recovered.

Ayumi silently surveyed their surroundings once again, composed enough that the shock didn't floor her again. "This place…" She said uncertainly. "Where are we?

"I don't know." Mayu answered fearfully. "We were cleaning up, weren't we? And now we're here."

"Yeah…we were." Ayumi remembered, trying to piece together the recent events. "We were cleaning up and… I decided to tell a scary story." She recalled.

"Oh right!" Mayu remembered. "And then we did that charm you brought…oh no!" As the memory of the charm came back to her, so did the one of her scrap of the doll that had been in her hand when they fell. "I lost my charm piece!" She twisted and turned trying to locate it.

"The Sachiko Ever After Charm…" Ayumi remembered.

"Oh!" Mayu spotted a scrap of white paper below one of the desks and quickly grabbed. She recognized the shape from memory- definitely her piece of the doll. "Thank god…" She sighed in relief. Despite the unknown situation, she took comfort in the scrap and what it stood for.

"And then there was the earthquake…" Ayumi finally chained their steps here back together. A faint part of her mind was screaming at her to connect it with the charm, but it was a connection she refused to make for several reasons.

"And then you were dragged into this hell as well." An amused voice broke into the conversation. There was a short moment as the girls registered the voice as male, and thus, unfamiliar. The both spun around to find the source, and shrieked in terror when they did.

Perched on one of the many desks scattered around the room was a boy, likely a high school student, staring at them with an oddly sinister grin. If his sudden appearance wasn't unsettling enough, he seemed coated in a strange orange like glow.

"W-who are you?!" Ayumi demanded. "Don't come near us!" She warned. Aside from sinister, the grin appeared perverted to her, making her even more panicked. Both girls backed away from strange person until their backs hit a wall.

"Shinozaki!" Mayu whispered fearfully. "What's going on?!" Had they been kidnapped? But the boy did not advance on them. Instead, he started laughing, a malicious sound that quickly filled the whole room.

"Oh, they always panic when they wake up, it's so funny!" He boy chortled. And then he did something even more shocking: he started to float. "Almost as funny as when they run into 'him'." He started right at them as he said that and, without another word, turned and floated out of the room, leaving two very stunned Kisaragi schoolgirls behind.

"W-who was that?!" Mayu asked weakly, her legs trembling slightly. Ayumi's legs gave and she sunk to the floor again, the start of yet another panic attack. "Oh no!" Mayu went to comfort her, a journey made difficult by her own trembling limbs.

"Damn Takesi…Always terrorizing survivors…" Mayu turned and discovered they had another unexplained guest: a girl this time. But she was different. Not only was she blue instead of orange, but she appeared see-through. Unlike the first, Mayu's mind immediately associated this sight with something.

"Are you… a spirit?" Mayu wondered. Her words brought Ayumi out of her panic by pure shock, and both girls stared at the figure with wonder now instead of fear. The girl was a sight that gave them a strange sense of pity instead of terror.

"I am." The girl nodded. "My name is Miyashiro Okimi. I died in this place in the past."

"Oh…" Mayu covered her mouth. Ayumi was struck speechless by the revelation. Even as a pair with great interest in the matter, this was a shocking moment for both of them despite believing it.

"This place… is Heavenly Host." As the spirit revealed this information to them, shock and disbelief took over their expressions. All the rumors and stories they'd ever heard of Kisaragi Academy came back to them at that moment.

"No…that can't be right!" Ayumi shook her head viciously. "Heavenly Host was torn down years ago!"

"I do not know where we are…but this school does still exist here." The ghost shook her head.

"That…that…" Ayumi blustered, incapable of responding.

"Excuse me, but do you know if any other people are here?" Mayu asked timidly. "We were just with our friends." She'd thought about Morishige again.

"Yes…" Okimi answered after a moment. "There are a lot of people trapped here right now, but ten people including you entered this school just recently."

"That's everyone!" Ayumi realized. "Mochida, Ms. Yui, and the rest of our friends! Please, where are they?" She stood up and approached the spirit. The departed soul shook her head.

"I do not know." She answered. Her answer was disappointing, but Ayumi realized very quickly what they had to do.

"W-we have to find the others." Ayumi realized. "We'll find them and escape from here together."

"Escape?" She repeated the word as if she'd never heard it. "This school is said to be inescapable, cut off and separated-"

"Even if it is!" Ayumi interrupted. "We can't just leave them without trying. We're going to go look for them!

"Right!" Mayu agreed. Both girls really were scared out of their minds, but they knew they couldn't let it stop them. They'd find the others, and then get out of here. And if they were both honest with themselves, there was one person here for each of them they definitely could leave behind.

"You are determined…" Okimi admitted, her intention to tell them of the school's separate spaces dying in the face of that determination. "If my friends had been that brave, maybe we would've fared better…" She looked remorseful for just a moment. "I wish you luck. Keep that friendship strong, and you just accomplish it."

"We will. Thank you. Come on, Suzumoto." Ayumi turned to her. "Let's go find our friends."

"Yeah, let's go!" Mayu agreed. Fearful inside but definitely outwardly determined, the two headed out to investigate the school.

X

Miyu had seen a lot of similarities to Satoshi in Yuka over the past day. She was compassionate, she was friendly, and she had no trouble interacting with everyone around her, to name just a few. Being so alike to the boy she had an eye for was probably why Miyu was so taken with the small girl.

Another part of it was what Miyu would've called maternal instincts. She'd always had a soft spot for children, one which increased after she moved to help Seiko raise her siblings. Although Yuka was only two years younger than her and had shown some maturity in helping them clean up, everything else about her spoke innocent youth: her appearance, her mannerisms, her speech, her carefree, naïve, and un-judgmental nature… Miyu was certain that was what had caused all of the girls to like their classmate's little sister so quickly.

An outsider would figure it had been because Yuka's mere presence was uplifting, something people would naturally flock to and want to defend, judging by Miyu's continued attempts to keep the younger teen in good spirits as they sat side by side against one of the walls, leaning on each other for warmth.

To distract themselves while they waited for the others to show, they talked just as they had earlier in the day. Although since they'd already asked Yuka almost everything about herself, Miyu had to think to come up with a subject.

"So Satoshi's told you about us?" She asked.

"Uhh… Some of you." Yuka responded. "He's talked about Naomi and Yoshiki and Ayumi. He hasn't mentioned the rest of you before."

"Ah…" Miyu smiled. "I guess he's forgetful."

"Mhm." Yuka nodded. She already knew by now that Satoshi hadn't mentioned her before. At first, she'd seemed a little let down by the news, but that was lost in the fun of the rest of the day. "He is!" She looked serious for a moment. "He's really hard headed too!" Her expression and voice fell after that. "I hope he's okay…"

"I'm sure he is." Miyu assured quickly. "He scares easily, but Satoshi doesn't let it stop him from anything. I bet he's looking for us right now!" Yuka looked hopeful for a moment, then turned to the other girl with another serious look on her face.

"You keep using Big Brother's first name…How long have you been friends?" She asked.

"Oh, about a year." Miyu responded as her thoughts drifted back. "I moved here before the beginning of the last year. I'm Seiko's cousin, did you know that?" Yuka shook her head. "Yeah, I moved in to help her take care of her siblings after their mother disappeared."

"That's awful…" Yuka gasped.

"Yeah…" Miyu agreed. "That's why I wanted to come help. Seiko was already in the same group of friends as Satoshi, and that's how I met him." Getting settled into a new town with new people had been a hard experience, but Seiko had made it pleasant and making new friends had made it even better. Those days ended up being some of her happiest so far in life.

"Do you miss home?" Yuka asked, mistaking the older teen's happy reminiscing for home sickness.

"I don't mind being here." It was an automatic response, one Miyu usually gave to everyone who asked her about it. "I don't really like talking about home."

"Sorry…" Yuka murmured, abashed.

"Aww, don't be." Miyu wrapped her arms around the girl. "I get asked all the time."

"Ok…" Yuka agreed after a moment and leaned into the hug, feeling content. "I wish Big Brother had told me he had such great friends before."

"And I wish he'd told us he had such a precious sister!" Yuka giggled nervously, still remembering the nearly suffocating attention earlier.

"Thank you, Miyu." Yuka sat back up. "I'm glad I ended up with someone so nice."

"Aww." The copper-haired girl smiled at the praise. "I'm glad I ended up with someone as adorable as you. I'll keep you safe no matter what." She meant that- the girl in front of her was just too innocent to let anything happen too. And, a back part of her mind told her, she might ended up on better terms with Satoshi if she took care of his sister. "If there's anything you need or want while we're stuck here, just tell me and I'll do my best."

Yuka nodded, and then her face went a light scarlet color and she looked away. "Umm…"

"Is something wrong?" Miyu put a hand on her shoulder.

"I…uh…need to use the bathroom…" Yuka muttered in embarrassment.

"Oh." Miyu realized, understanding her embarrassment now. "I guess that is a problem…." She admitted awkwardly. "Hmm…." She couldn't just ask the girl to hold it. Since this was a school, surely there were bathrooms, however decrypt? Although she wasn't keen on leaving the room, both in case the others came looking or they ran into something out there; there still had no idea how or why they were here.

"I just have to pee. I can hold it if that's too much." Yuka said quickly once she realized how hard Miyu was contemplating. She looked back over and tried to put on a brave face.

"How long have you been holding it?'

"Uhh…" A deeper blush. "I was going to go before Ayumi started her story." She admitted. Time seemed strangely absent in this place, but Miyu was certain that was at least an hour. Not good at all.

"No, we'll figure something out." She assured. "Hmm…" She looked around the classroom and one idea, albeit a crude one, came to mind. "How about I turn my back and you go behind those desks where no one will see you?"

Yuka leaned forward to look around the room. After a quick look she closed her eyes and shook her head. "I can't! That's too embarrassing!"

"I guess it is." Miyu frowned. She really hadn't wanted to leave, but if it was for Yuka's sake, then she didn't mind. "We'll go look for one." She decided. "Who knows, maybe we'll find the others while we're looking?" That prospect didn't cancel out Yuka's embarrassment.

"Sorry…" She stared at her feet.

"It's okay." Miyu held up her hand to help her up. "I've had to do this before with my little cousins. I said I'd take care of you, right? So come on." Yuka took her hand and stood up so Miyu could lead them to the doorway. The two girls cautiously peered outside into the hallway, dark and rotted just like the classroom. Just outside the room, in fact, was a gaping hole in the floor just a few feet from the doorway.

"Stay close to me." Miyu ordered, moving Yuka over to her other side as they passed the gap. There was something ominous about the hole, making it look bottomless. The hallway disappeared into blackness ahead and the girls were slow in their movements.

When they came to a split in the hallway, they discovered something odd: a literal wall of desks and chairs, stacked on each other to bar access to one of the hallways. Why someone would do that, they had no idea, but it left only one path for them to go.

That hallway opened up into a new room, and the girls paused when they noticed all of the shelves. Wooden cubicles for shoes. That most likely meant…the girls kept going and found a pair of doors. This was definitely an entrance way.

"Is that an exit?" Yuka asked. They forgot what they were doing for a moment and went over to the two doors. She stayed behind Miyu while the other girl tried to open them. But they were locked, and all she could do was shake them in their frame, something she quickly ceased for all the noise it made.

"Are we…trapped?" Yuka asked worriedly.

"No." Miyu responded after a moment. "We'll come back to it later. Let's attend to you first." She grabbed her hand and started pulling her from the room.

Fortunately, they found what they were looking for without going far. There was a bathroom in the room after the entranceway, the only room in what was an oddly big and expansive empty space. It was more an oddity than an issue, but there was one problem.

"Well, it's the boy's room. But do you want to try?" Miyu asked.

"Is there anyone in there?" Yuka chose not to be picky. The two girls entered the room and almost immediately stopped by the terrible stench of ammonia from the urinals. But there was no one in here.

"Hmm." Miyu walked over and tried to turn on the sink. Turning the handle produced no water though. Some black mass was plugging the drain anyway, a sight so disgusting the girls stepped away from the sinks and went to look at the stalls. They were traditional Japanese floor toilets, not surprising considering how old the building was. The doors were rotten and full of holes, but still on their hinges. A disgusting bathroom by all standards.

"Water probably doesn't work." Miyu realized. "But I don't think we'll find a bathroom here in better shape. Want to give it a try? I'll stand outside and make sure no one comes in." Yuka fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable, but at the same time was looking around the room with obvious disgust.

"I'll try." She finally decided, her face taking a red tint. "Promise you won't let anyone come in?" Yuka asked the older girl.

"I promise." Miyu smiled. "You just do what you need to do and call if you need me." She turned and headed for the entranceway while Yuka stepped into one of the stalls and locked the door behind her. Miyu leaned against the wall outside and hummed to herself while she waited.

 _I wonder how the others are doing?_ Alone for a few moments, she let herself worry. She knew Seiko was a strong person, able to keep up a positive attitude no matter what. And she knew Satoshi was a driven person, one who definitely wouldn't give up. But she wasn't so sure about the others or how they would act under pressure. Just from time in the theater club, Miyu knew Suzumoto could stay upbeat, but dealing directly with conflict wasn't her strong point- she'd always had her friends to help her with that, something she likely lacked now. _I hope they'll all be okay._

Miyu had decided before to worry more about keeping herself and Yuka safe than trying to find out where they were. But outside of the classroom and staring around the building's interior, that became harder. There was something…strange about the air that she hadn't noticed before. It seemed heavy and stale, like they were underground. It was just one oddity among many, but unsettling on a primal level.

A close by noise suddenly made her alert: the creaking of wood. At first she thought it was Yuka coming out of her stall, but the sound was too heavy for that. Plus, she noticed another sound accompanying it: rain. It could only be the door in the entranceway, _the room right next to them_ , and that door had been locked, _meaning whoever opened it had the keys._ That last point was the most terrifying, and Miyu quickly hid back inside the lavatory.

"Yuka." Miyu quietly tiptoed over to the stall and called her name, earning a startled gasp in response. "I heard someone outside, stay quiet." She ordered and crept back towards the doorway. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. Had all this actually been a kidnapping and this was the perpetrator? She peeked out the doorway as they entered the room.

"Ms. Yui!" When she recognized the figure, she ran out of hiding to meet her.

"Shinohara!" Her student's sudden appearance had startled her, but she quickly recovered. "Are you hurt? Have you seen any of the others?"

"I'm okay." She nodded quickly. "The only person I've found though is Satoshi's sister. Yuka!" Miyu turned and called. "I found someone!"

"Coming!" Yuka shouted back and came out a moment later.

"Thank goodness." Ms. Yui sighed. "Do you girls don't know what happened?" They both shook their heads.

"We woke up in a room down the hall. We're not sure how we got there." Miyu admitted.

"I'm not sure how we got here either." Ms. Yui admitted. "I woke up in the other building and came here over the walkway." Upon hearing this, Miyu was reminded of something.

"How did you open the entrance way?" She asked. "It was locked when we tried to get out." Her teacher looked confused for a brief moment.

"It wasn't when I came in." She told them. "I'm going to look for everyone else. You two need to come with me." It wasn't a request, but she was obviously just looking out for their safety, and that would be in numbers.

"Yes, Ms. Yui." Miyu accepted and turned to Yuka. "Did you take care of what you needed?" She nodded. "Let's go find Satoshi, then."

"Ok!" Yuka agreed.

XX Author's Note XX

Putting the two frailest characters together. Aren't I evil? On the other hand, they are very selfless, although that didn't help them in canon. Hmm...

Satan will be ice skating his way to work before I waste more than chapter as any story on something as mundane as a bathroom hunt. But that was just a quick intermission so those paths have a starting point when we get the them. Next chapter we're back to Satoshi and co.


	8. Chapter 8

XX A/N XX

Short chapter, I know. Sorry it took so long; College is hard and the finals coming up means the crunch will get worse. But then it's summer, and things will start flying off the presses.

X

Even though they'd been there just minutes ago, they decided to re-check the hallway and infirmary first. Shinozaki's candle was still burning and, oddly, didn't seem to have melted the least bit since they'd last been there. But there was still no sign of her and the other room on the hall remain locked.

For the sake of thoroughness, they checked the unlocked rooms in the other hallway again, but found nothing still but the body. They resolved not to stick around in the room very long, and found nothing anyway.

"I hope the others are okay." Satoshi glanced back at the body as they left the room, and Morishige certainly looked uncomfortable for a brief moment.

"You guys aren't being optimistic." Seiko put an arm around each boy's shoulders, a gesture Morishige immediately shrugged off. "We'll find them, and when we do, they're going to be scared. They're going to want to be held and comforted. It could be an opportunity for you both." She whispered suggestively.

"Uhh…" Satoshi was at a lost at that and Morishige took a few hurried steps forward so his blushing face couldn't be seen. Seiko enjoyed a grin at their expense, all the while wondering if she could use a reunion as a chance to be held by her crush instead.

If they focused on the good things would come from finding the others, they'd be encouraged to continue on. They certainly needed that encouragement, because the rest of their trip turned up little.

Little may have been an understatement. They'd passed through the stairway, but the spirit they'd seen earlier still hadn't come back. They checked the entrance way again, finding the door just as solid as before. The other hallway remained an inexplicable dead end, and in seemingly no time at all, they found themselves exactly back where they'd started.

"I don't get it…" Satoshi was looking around. "We should've found Shinozaki by now."

"Maybe she's in a different space those ghosts were talking about?" Seiko suggested.

"I wouldn't think so…" Satoshi answered. "Hey candle isn't in a different space." He trailed off. "We have no idea if that was even the truth anyway." He stared down at the ground. "We've been at this for a while, maybe we should take a break?" He looked back up at them.

"I guess I could use one." Seiko admitted. "I'd normally be in bed by this time."

"…I suppose." Morishige's answer was grudged.

"Let's head back to the infirmary- it looked the most comfortable." At Satoshi's suggestion, that's where they headed.

"I'm getting tired." Seiko moaned as she flopped back across the two beds. All three of them were certainly fatigued, having been up and moving for most of the day already, it was late and here they were still moving around.

The boys stayed standing though, and Satoshi went over to look at Shinozaki's candle again, still not melted in the slightest. Two laps around the school and somehow they hadn't found her.

The brunette turned and headed for the small desk. The chair at least looked stable, which meant he could rest his legs. Movement near the doorway caught his eye though.

"Hey, Morishige!" Satoshi called, making him stop. "Where are you going?" Seiko leaned up and looked over to see.

"I'm going to keep looking." He explained casually without looking back.

"Oh, I'll go-" Morishige turned and put a hand up to stop him.

"I appreciate your concern Mochida." Morishige shook his head. "But if you want to rest, then rest. I'm going to keep looking."

"Will you be okay?" Seiko had gotten up and come over.

"It's not particularly dangerous here." Morishige sounded unconcerned. "You two stay here if you wish. I'm going to keep looking for Mayu." Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked out the door. His brisk pace put space between him and the infirmary quickly and it was only a few moment before his footsteps faded.

Out of respect for his friend's request, Satoshi didn't follow. He did sigh in defeat though.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Seiko spoke up. "He can't go far, and we haven't found anything dangerous yet."

"I guess you're right." Satoshi admitted. "I just think we should've kept together." He walked over to the bed and sat down. Seiko climbed over to the over bed and laid down, propping her head up with her elbow to watch her now only companion. "There's nothing we can do in this place." He complained.

"Well… the others could always end up finding us." Seiko pointed out. "We don't have to do everything."

"Maybe." Satoshi conceded. "But I feel useless sitting here without knowing Yuka's in danger." Satoshi expressing his own brotherly concerns reminded Seiko again about her little siblings back at home, and the fear and guilt she was trying so hard to hide almost broke though. "I hope she ended up with someone else."

"I'm sure she did." Seiko's positive shield prevailed. "If she landed with Naomi, I know she's okay. Naomi's really great with kids, you know?"

"Huh?" Seiko had managed to distract him from his worry. "Is she?"

"Yep." Seiko confirmed matter-of-factually. It wasn't surprising to her Satoshi didn't know; Naomi tended to act like a tom-boy most of the time. But Seiko knew otherwise from the time the two girls spent together. "She really likes kids. Says she wants a whooole bunch of them when she gets older. Maybe four or five."

"…Really?" Satoshi responded after a moment as Seiko's all-knowing grin stared him down. "Well…I hope they did land together then. Yuka's never been good with taking care of herself." He admitted.

"Oh?" Seiko let off on her teasing and sat up.

"Yeah." Satoshi nodded. "Our parents always spoiled her. She's got a good heart, but he really hasn't grown up yet. Always relied on them or me…" He trailed off.

"You're lucky." Seiko didn't seem to pick up the good nature resignation in his voice. "I can't keep my siblings from growing up so matter how little they are." She vented.

"Ah…your mom, right?" Satoshi guessed.

"Mhm." Seiko confirmed. Her situation at home wasn't a secret to her friends, although she rarely talked with any of them about it save for Naomi. But, for the dead-end situation they found themselves in, it was good to vent about other things. It passed the time, kept their minds off the almost crushing reality. "That's why I'm worried about getting back. If me and Miyu disappear, they'll be crushed."

"Well…we'll find some way." It was Satoshi's turn to offer support.

"I hope." Seiko agreed. And just like before, they changed the subject. "So how come you kept your sister a secret?"

"Secret?" Satoshi repeated. "I'm pretty sure I mentioned her before today."

"Nope." Seiko shook her head with absolute certainty. "Naomi would've remembered if there was another girl."

"Another…girl?" For Satoshi's own good heart, he was painfully naïve to all the implications Seiko was making and just wrote them off as her oddball behavior.

"You're hopeless." Seiko fell back on the bed, leaving Satoshi only more confused.

X

"Mayu?" Morishige called. "Mayu?" He called out his friend's name as he walked the halls. The last two walk arounds had discouraged him, but it didn't stop him. Honestly, it probably wasn't possible for him to sit still while Mayu was in possible danger.

He had to keep moving. He had to keep doing _something_. With the exception of Ms. Yui, he didn't trust that any of his friends would be able to protect Mayu. That meant he had to find her and quickly.

He got to the end of the hall and started descending the stairs, slowing as he reached the landing. This was where the body was. Where a far less fortunate person then they had lost their life. And where their spirit supposedly lingered.

He paused to stare at the expired mass again. There was something strangely…fascinating about it, seeing a real corpse rather than props or ones touched up for funerals. He hadn't shared his companion's horror at it. He couldn't tell why, though. It was as if…A strange gasping sound in the air made him jump and the air above the body became hazy. The spirit from earlier? Had she noticed him…?

"A-ah. Excuse me." Morishige muttered, embarrassed. "I'm sorry." He turned and jogged the rest of the way down the stairs. He paused when he got into the hallway and, even though he was alone, held a hand up to cover the red spreading through his face.

That had been inappropriate of him. Perverse even, like staring at a girl after her skirt had snagged and torn on something. And he was certainly above behavior like _that_. What the hell had he just been doing? What kind of impression would that have made if someone...someone living, at any rate, spotted him?

He was getting distracted. He had to find Mayu. Morishige checked the entrance way was he passed it again and found nothing. He checked the other end of the hallway, and again found it inexplicably let to nothing.

"This place." Morishige muttered as, for the third time that night, he found himself at Classroom 6-A. But he had no intention of stopping there. Looking at the gap on the other end of the hallway, he thought it cross-able.

He grunted in disgust as he picked up a loose board off the floor and his finger tips sunk into dirt and dust and who knew what else. But it was long enough to bridge the gap over the dark hole. His steps were uneasy as he crossed- his suspicious over the gaps disappearing earlier were to partly blame for that.

There was another two way junction across the gap, and he saw classrooms in each direction. He decided he'd go right. The door to that classroom was wide open anyway. "Mayu?" He called as he stepped inside.

He only found disappointment though. No one was here. Just a bunch of rotted desks and a tipped over cupboard in the far corner of the room. He made an noise of annoyance as he walked through the rows of desks towards the front. Before he left the room though, he noticed a newspaper on the teachers podium, and went to look.

He had to squint to read the print. It was still faded his glasses had become slightly scuffed since getting here. "Heavenly Post, September 18th, 1973." He read out loud, but trailed off as he went through the article and its disturbing contents.

It detailed a set of murders that had followed the disappearance of several children from the now torn down Heavenly Host Elementary School. All four victims had apparently disappeared over the past weeks and were found dead…on school grounds.

Morishige looked up and glanced around. Even now, he wasn't completely absorbing the paranormal encounters as believable. But reading about someone so horrific happening in the building he was now apparently occupying naturally made him uneasy. _Never heard of it before, though._ He looked at the story again. But of course, some institutions in the country had a habit of covering up bad or negative happenings for the sake of image. It wasn't hard to imagine something like that could've happened and been covered up.

And if that had happened... If this really was the old Elementary School…And if their school had been built on the same ground… Actually, Morishige couldn't tell what it could've meant; he was no expert on these matters even though Mayu took an interest in them. But there definitely was a connection now. He folded the paper and tucked it into his jacket, intending to show it to the others later, and continued searching.

The hallway ended after that classroom though, and there was only one other room. The door was rusty and the red paint flaked. A faded plaque on it read 'Custodians Closet'. The door was locked however, if locked was an appropriate word for something that felt like solid wall. Morishige could've just turned back and kept looking.

He thought he could hear something though. Turning and leaning his ear towards the decayed wood, he tried to focus in on it. After a moment, he realized it was static. In fact, as soon as he associated that word with it, the noise seemed to be much louder and grating.

"Static…?" He repeated to himself. A radio? A television? Everything else about this place seemed old, so something like that would've been out of place. More to the point, how would such an appliance still work or have power?

This anomaly disappeared from his mind the next moment. He stiffened when he heard something move not too far away from him.

"Huh?" Morishige leaned back to stare down the hallway, and caught the unmistakable sound of a door sliding shut. "Is someone there?" He called, taking a few cautious steps in that direction. There was another room down the hallway- the sign identified it as Classroom 4-A.

Maybe they didn't hear him? He walked down the hallway, glancing at the junction to make sure the board was still there. He stopped in front of the door he was certain he'd heard closed and stopped, wondering if he should've gotten the others or possibly let it be.

They hadn't found anything dangerous yet. There'd been bodies, yes, but most of those could've been contributed to starvation. And if it was another person, he should've at least checked before dragging the other down here. He already knew it couldn't be Mayu; she would've recognized his voice. There wasn't any danger in checking.

Tentatively, Morishige reached forward and grasped the handle. With the intention of peeking inside, he slowly pulled it open just a crack. Immediately, his eyes locked with those of another human being.

"Gah!"

"Ahh!"

XX A/N XX

For its lacking in gameplay, I did like how Book of Shadows, mainly chapter 2 and the last, showed us the Kisaragi cast interacting beyond the usual person they're interested in or were stuck with. The interaction between different characters was part of the reason for writing this, after all.


	9. Chapter 9

XX A/N XX

To the recent lovely guest review: It is a 'descent' idea in the fact it's another official character, one to use and interact with the rest of the cast. Corpse Party is largely successful because of its characters and interactions. I will concede that she is an obvious clone of Seiko, but she's not the only one in the franchise and she's different in her own way.

I suppose this is more personal opinion, but Miyu was the least offensive since she was entirely new. Musume was absolutely offensive to the franchise- it took the plot and game that started it all and reduced it to a fanservice show, degraded Yoshiki's character into a 1 dimensional pervert, used the girls almost exclusively for sex appeal and turned Yuka into a fetish object more or less. As someone who enjoyed the series for its serious tone and established complex characters, it sure as hell was offensive.

Why you seemed to throw such a fit over it escapes me, but those are my reasons. You're free to like or dislike the story as you choose.

Sorry about that folks. On to the chapter.

X

"This place is a dump…" That was Yoshiki's first remark upon stepping into the hallway.

"What are we anyway?" Naomi was leaning against the doorframe. There was a sign above the door they'd stepped out of and signs above some doors down the hallway to their right. To their left was another stairway and a staircase. "Classroom 1-A." She read it. Yoshiki took a few steps down the hall to read the others.

"1-B and 1-C." He read. "More classrooms." He called back before entering the first.

"H-hey!" Naomi glanced back into the dark classroom and then the hallway before awkwardly hobbling out after him. After a few tentative steps, she figured she could set her sprained leg down and slowly limped after him.

"There's no one in here." He informed her, scratching the top of his head on the far side of the similarly wrecked classroom when she walked in. "Satoshi!" He called as he walked back into the hallway. "Shinozaki!" Naomi exited the door she'd come through and followed him down the hall into the last classroom.

"Seiko!" Naomi tried calling for her best friend again. Both their voices just echoed in the empty hallway for a bit before more silence returned.

1-C was just like the others: empty and in dirty shambles. "Nothing." Yoshiki grumbled, standing in the middle of the room. The pain in Naomi's ankle became enough of a nuisance that she decided to take a moment to sit on one of the desks, since they were too small to sit in, and cringed a bit when the act sent up a flurry of dusk particles around her that she swatted away.

"Damn." She muttered, folded the offending leg over her other knee so she could look at it. The lighting was dim, it wasn't hard to see it already swelling and reddening. Definitely a sprain or something.

"Your leg alright?" Yoshiki noticed her.

"Yeah." She grudgingly answered. "Like I said, I think I sprained it."

"You want to rest here while I go look for the others?" He suggested.

"No!" Naomi snapped her response a little too quickly. Her cheeks went red. "No." She repeated in a more controlled voice. "I'm fine. I can walk." She stood up to prove her point. "Let's keep looking."

"If you don't want to be alone, fine, but don't hurt yourself. If you want to stop, just say so."

"Shut up." Yoshiki's good will didn't get a positive response. "Let's just go." Naomi exited the classroom, making a conscious and obvious effort to walk completely normal, and left Yoshiki there wondering for a moment what had gotten under her skin.

Out in the hallway, Naomi had the sudden realization she still had her cellphone in her skirt pocket and pulled it out. But almost immediately she noticed the gray bars in the corner- no signal. "Damnit."

"What?" Yoshiki came out and saw her staring at the screen. "No signal?" He guessed, patting his pockets to confirm his own cell was still there.

"No signal at all." Naomi muttered.

"Either we're somewhere off the map or that earthquake knocked down the towers. Best guess I got." Yoshiki shrugged. "So which way do you figure we go?" Not too far off down the hall from where they were was a descending staircase. Further away, near the room they'd awoke in, was an ascending staircase. "We go downstairs, we might find an exit. Or we could check for the others upstairs." Personally, he was thinking of the later option.

"I want to find Satoshi or Seiko before trying to leave." Naomi shot the first idea down. "Let's check upstairs." They headed back the way they'd come, pausing just short of the staircase when they realized it was actually a junction with another hallway to their right. Not that they could use it- the entire length had neatly collapsed, leaving behind only an ominous black abyss.

"Looks a little shabby." Yoshiki laughed uneasily. The creaking of the floorboards beneath them every time they moved seemed a little louder now.

"Let's…just watch where we walking." The sight unnerved Naomi just as much. They tried to forget the sight and instead headed up the stairs. There was a few desks cluttered up there for some odd reason, sitting on one under a layer of dust was a clue to their location: a newspaper. Yoshiki noticed first and went to pick it up.

"Heavenly Post…" Yoshiki had to pull the paper up to his face to read the text and looked for the date. "Man, this place is old." He set it back down on the desk. "This paper is from fifty years ago."

"But where is this place?" Naomi demanded, snatching it up to read it for herself. She was skimming through whatever the article was looking for any named locations, and one immediately stuck out to her: "H-Heavenly Host…Elementary?!" She thought she'd misread it at first, but that particular Kanji was less faded then the rest, leaving no mistake. The name of the school was scattered in other parts of the paper as well.

"What?!" Yoshiki got behind her so he could read it too. By then though a slight tremor had developed in Naomi's hand, and he had to snatch it from her to read it. But looking at the article now, he saw it too. "What the hell…That doesn't make any sense!" He threw it down. "That place was torn down years ago."

"Y-yeah." Naomi agreed, staving off a panic attack. "This can't be that school. It must be an old newspaper."

"Must be." Yoshiki agreed, although it did little to shake off the terror that struck them during that brief moment they believed it true. Hell of a coincidence that they'd find something related to what Shinozaki occasionally talked about in her stories.

One hell of a coincidence…

"Just curious…what does it say?" Naomi asked, avoiding the discarded paper like it would bite her if she reached for it.

"Uh…" Yoshiki picked it up and read through the legible bits. "Looks like it's reporting a kidnapping. Some kid got snatched walking home from that school…Actually, looks like they were the second one to disappear."

"How awful…" Naomi gasped. The two stood there in silence. There was a certain connection now that was easy to make. But it was so unpleasant they didn't want to acknowledge it. If this place was really linked…

"Well…Past is the past." Yoshiki tried to brush it off. It happened decades ago. It couldn't have any relevance today. "No point worrying about it."

"R-right." Naomi nodded, trying to keep her thoughts from wandering somewhere terrible. "Let's just forget about it."

"Fine by me." Yoshiki couldn't keep the unease out of his voice while trying to sound uninterested. It was with noticeably hesitant steps that they kept going up the stairs. It wasn't another level as much an extra hall just built one floor up, this one only containing the school lavatories.

They split up to check the bathrooms corresponding to their gender. Yoshiki entered the boys' room and immediately recoiled from the terrible stench. "Someone's been here recently." He muttered to himself. He made a disgusted sound where he noticed the sinks were clogged with dirty water, and for obvious reasons didn't check the stalls.

In the girls' toilets, Naomi's nostrils faced the same assault, and she proceeded with hand firmly clenching nose and didn't approach any of the fixtures either. She couldn't help but notice something though, gleaming slightly on the floor under one of the stall doors. Curiously, Naomi bent down and reached out and her fingers brushed the cold metal of what she realized was a key. It was an old design too.

"Find something?" Naomi looked up to see Yoshiki in the doorway.

"A key." She held up the item, gray but looking surprisingly new.

"Does it go to something in this building?" Yoshiki wondered.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Naomi shook her head. "Probably fell out of a girl's pocket, and this is a student restroom." She felt a prickle of unease in her stomach. "…But I'll hold onto it anyway." Yoshiki nodded.

"Well, I didn't find anything." He informed her. "I guess that just leaves downstairs to check."

"Okay." Naomi agreed. The two headed back downstairs and into the hallway, keeping a wide berth of the caved in hall. That long walk and another flight of descending stairs later, they were on the next floor down.

"Huh?" Naomi froze at the bottom as the steps. Scattered throughout the entire hallway they found themselves in were shoes. Tiny outdoor shoes, old in design and looking like they'd seen better days. "These look like children's shoes…" She said out loud, picking one up to look at it.

"Well, I guess this was an elementary school." Yoshiki commented. "Probably just another coincidence."

"But why are they here?" Naomi wondered. "The children would've taken them home with them…" Yoshiki couldn't answer that. "But… maybe that means there's an entrance close by!" She realized, voice rising in excitement. Right in the entrance to schools were cubbies where people could switch from their outside shoes to their inside shoes.

Just as Naomi predicted, there was an entranceway to their left as they approached a junction in the hallway. Cubbies filled the room and shoes littered the floor, but beyond it all was two large double doors.

"Thank god…" Naomi sighed. She cast a glance back into the hallway for a moment before walking towards them. "Come on, let's go."

"What, now?" Yoshiki seemed surprised by the idea. "We haven't found Shinozaki and the others yet!

"I'm still worried for them." Naomi admitted. "But if we leave now we can get help and then come back to find them." He pondered over her words for a moment.

"I guess you have a point." Yoshiki admitted. "C'mon. I don't want to spend another second in this place." He reached out and grabbed the handle tried to turn it. It didn't budge. Yoshiki switched to trying to push the handle with both hands.

"Is it locked?" Naomi asked. Yoshiki nodded and then resorted to cruder methods when pulling didn't illicit the wanted action.

"Come on!" Yoshiki growled, giving it a few good rams with his shoulder, an effort that only left the right side of his body sore. The door refused to budge at all. "Damnit." He rubbed the sore limb. "We aren't getting out this way."

"Hmm…" Naomi reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out the key she'd picked up. When she leaned over to try and insert it, she realized something. "The keyhole is covered…" She wasn't sure with what, but something was definitely lodged in there.

"They never built schools this big with only one entrance. Let's keep looking." Yoshiki rubbed his shoulder again, still wondering what the hell was barring it to make it so solid. Back at the junction, they had the option of going straight ahead or taking the right hallway. The two decided to try the straight path on the grounds that another exit was more likely to be placed opposite of the entrance.

A classroom marked 6-A was located on the left side of the hall that they decided to check out. Naomi was the first to reach the doorway, and immediately back stepped with a light gasp upon doing so. "There's somewhere in there!" She whispered to Yoshiki, forcing the boy back away.

"What?" Yoshiki tensed up. They didn't know where this place was, so obviously they wouldn't know anyone here. Were they dangerous? Were they the one who'd brought them here? Or was he just like them? Yoshiki quietly edged to the doorway to see for himself and Naomi followed to get more than a fleeting glance. Just like Naomi had said, there was indeed someone there, standing at the far side of the classroom looking at the inky black windows. Even from here they could tell it wasn't someone they knew.

The figure appeared to be blue from where they were standing, probably an effect just caused by the darkness. It was a boy, if the haircut was any indication. The clothes he was wearing, even with the unusual color distortion, definitely looked like a school uniform.

"That's a student, isn't it?" Naomi asked.

"Looks like one." Yoshiki nodded. The clothes certain matched the near national standard.

"What do you think he's standing there for?" Naomi wondered. They hadn't been exactly quiet in the last few minutes, certainly enough to be heard by this person. But they showed no alarm or sign of unease.

"Look at the floor." Yoshiki pointed. The whole front of the room was collapsed in, save from some still near the windows. That's where the boy was standing. The only other solid floor were a few bits right through the doorway where the two were now standing, separated from the other by maybe ten feet. "I think he's trapped over there."

"We should see if he needs help." Naomi decided. Yoshiki nodded in agreement and the two entered the classroom.

"Hello?" Yoshiki called. "Hey!" The boy looked up at them. "You stuck over there? You need any help?" The two Kisaragi students approached the gap in the floor. The boy finally turned his body around and walked towards them- and right over the gap in the floor.

"Whoa!"

"Eh?!" Their shock couldn't be more apparent, and the two backed away without realizing it.

"How the hell did you do that?!" Yoshiki demanded. The boy just kept approaching them, and that was when they noticed something else. "What the hell…?"

"Ah!...Ah!" Naomi fell back and knocked over a few desks.

The boy was transparent; they could see right through him. But now that he was closer to them, it was apparent the color wasn't a trick of the eye- he really was blue, glowing even.

"What the hell are you?!" Yoshiki demanded, grabbing the broken leg of a desk and brandishing it. The boy finally stopped.

"You two are part of the group that just arrived, aren't you?" He asked. Yoshiki lowered his improvised weapon and glanced back at Naomi who was struggling to pull herself back up after the fall. She accepted Yoshiki's hand to pull her back up.

"Yeah…Yeah…" The shock was wearing off. "We just got here a few minutes ago." Yoshiki explained. "What uh…what are you?"

"I am a spirit confined to this place." He responded.

"Spirit…" Naomi murmured. "You're…a ghost?" The figure nodded. Ghosts and spirits were common elements in Japanese legend and folklore. Given the creepy building they were in and the evidence right in front of them, it was enough to make them believe it.

"Wow…" Yoshiki rubbed the top of his head. "Can you tell us where this place is then?"

"Heavenly Host Elementary." The ghost answered, making the two living persons recoil.

"What?!" Naomi gasped. "No, you're lying! That place was torn down years ago. Our school was built where it use to be!" The boy cocked his head to the side as she said that.

"She's right." Yoshiki nodded, holding up the chair leg. It was a reflexive action, becoming aggressive when confronted with something threatening. "I don't know what you're playing at." In his mind, he was going back over everything Shinozaki had ever said about Heavenly Host. Nothing about it still existing or being haunted by anything other than that teacher, though.

The boy smirked. Seeing a human emotion on a transparent face was unsettling, to say the least. For some reason, the tint of him seemed to be turning a deeper shade of blue. They dismissed it as a trick of the eye. "Do you intend to try and hurt the dead?"

"…No." Yoshiki lowered the weapon. "Sorry. We're just trying to get out of here." Yoshiki explained awkwardly.

"Hmph." His color seemed to change again. "Had there been an escape, I wouldn't taken it rather than be trapped here forever." There was the faint signs of an annoyed tone in that sentence

"There's no way out?" Naomi asked.

"None." The spirit replied. "There is no way out for anyone. All who come here die here and are trapped forever. You will be the same."

Their reactions differed. Yoshiki, a young man who'd already had more than a few tough experiences and pulled through, didn't take the warning too seriously. But for Naomi, who'd already lost a parent and was acquainted with the concept of death, it struck her far deeper.

"So uh…how many of you guys are there?" Yoshiki asked, not pressing further on the whole 'death' warning. "Five or so?"

"Hundreds." The spirit corrected. "Every soul that perishes here is trapped forever. Not all of us will communicate with the living. Many of us are simply in too much agony to do so."

"Hundreds?" Naomi repeated in a low voice.

"You should be careful." The spirit went on, pacing around Naomi's side and keeping a focused gaze on her. Both teens turned to keep the spectral figure in their sight. "The more malevolent spirits here pick on the weak minded for their entertainment and salvation."

"Eh?" Naomi gasped, more worried about the implication than the insult. "What does that mean?" The spirit completed a full 360 around her, passing between the two.

"They can do terrible things. If you wish to live long enough to come to terms with your fate…you'd be best to avoid them." The spirit seemed to fade away into nothing.

"…" Naomi stood there with her fists clenched. She seemed to tremble slightly.

"Shit." Yoshiki held a hand to his forehead. "What the hell did that mean?" He took a moment to notice Naomi's visible distress. "You alright Nakashima?"

She was far from alright. She'd just been told their only possible fate was to die here and that they were apparently only toys to whoever already was here. She was downright terrified. It was taking every fiber of her being to not break down, and at that moment she _really_ wished Seiko or Satoshi were here, or someone who would try and say something comforting.

"Fine." She muttered, although her hands had turned white from balling her fists. Yoshiki took her words at face value. He paused for a moment.

"Damn." Yoshiki grunted. "He asked if we were part of the group that just arrived here, didn't he?" Naomi thought about it then nodded. "We should've asked him if he knew where the others were."

"We should of…" Naomi realized, although after that exchange she felt a little glad they couldn't talk again to that boy. "Do…you think he was telling the truth?" She asked. Seeing is one thing, hearing another. Being completely trapped somewhere sounded impossible. And he'd said there were hundreds of those just like him. How can hundreds of people go missing and it not be discovered? It just wasn't possible.

"Well, I thought he was the real deal." Yoshiki dodged the question. He looked at the chair leg in his hand and gave it a light swing. "We should probably watch our backs."

"We should." Naomi agreed, looking less than pleased with the truth. "Let's…keep looking."

They moved slower and more cautious after that encounter.


End file.
